Disastrous: Tales of the Black Lady and Plague Cat
by ElizabeththeLast
Summary: In a world where kwamis are evil, Marinette and Adrien get selected to hold the ladybug and cat disastrous, and fight against the good guys as The Black Lady and Plague Cat.
1. Origins

"You want to know?" the light purple bug-like creature flitted around nervously and grimaced. "Okay… Kwamis have existed for centuries; some have existed in this universe longer than humanity itself. And our purpose has always been to bring the universe under our rule. Then, a few thousand years ago, the disastrous were made. They gave us the ability to greater affect your world, to possess the weak-minded and weak-willed and display great powers for a short amount of time. We grew disciples that would protect us and our ways of entering this plane of reality. The most powerful of the disastrous belong to the kwamis of creation and destruction. The ladybug and the cat."

Gabriel leveled hooded eyes at Nooroo. "And you are the butterfly kwami. With powers of… bestowing power on others, am I correct?"

The kwami figetted more. "Yes. You can share your power with other weak-willed, anger-filled beings. It is a… very unique gift. It can effectively create you an army."

"Yes…" Gabriel trailed off and glanced at the brooch in his hand again. "But an army can be used for good, can it not?"

Nooroo visibly stiffened.

Gabriel smiled. "A strong-hearted being can resist you. I haven't put on the disastrous yet, so you have no way to assert your power over me yet. But what if I did, and being strong hearted, I purified you instead. And then I could find the other disastrous and purify them, too. Correct?"

The kwami avoided the question and hissed back at Gabriel, flitting away. "You _cannot_ do that. _No_. Stop, you _cannot_ purify us."

Gabriel smiled again, watching Nooroo as he fixed the disastrous on to his person again. "But it has been done before. And maybe, if I purify all of the disastrous, your species may give me a bit of help in return, yes?"

"You can have power without purifying us!" Nooroo screeched. But it did nothing.

Gabriel smiled softly. "Light wings, rise." And he was surrounded by butterflies.

* * *

"Fu!" Wayzz hissed.

The old man fumbled awake and blinked in confusion at the kwami fluttering in front of his face. "What is it?"

"I have sensed something horrible. The butterfly disastrous had reappeared. But it has been purified. And with Nooroo's last cry, I sensed that the one who possesses it is going to look for the disastrous, to purify them too."

The old man nodded his head, resigned. "I am ready to fight, to honor the kwamis once more!"

Wayzz shook his head. "You're far too old. But, what if we placed the ladybug and cat disastrous out in the open? It is sure to attract our enemy's attention. And, it has been so long since the kwamis decided to take over a civilization. Where else better than Paris to start?"

The kwami's eyes were sly, and Fu nodded, with a slight grin on his face. "Let us go find some weak souls."

* * *

Marinette was racing through groups of people, trying to get to school on time. She tripped multiple times and said apologies so often that the words stumbling from her mouth didn't sound like words anymore. By the time she got to the school building, the box of macarons she was carrying were mostly crumbled. She smiled shyly to an elderly man who was sitting outside of the building, and then she went inside. Chloe was indeed in her class again, just like she had worried. She was jabbering about some boy who would be joining their class this year who she was "best friends" with. Marinette had no idea how Chloe was the best friend of anyone.

At the same time Marinette was getting pushed around by Chloe, and meeting the new girl, Alya, she had no idea that outside the school doors, the other new student Chloe was jabbering about was having problems starting his school day too.

"I just want to go to school like everyone else! What's wrong with that?" Adrien pleaded to Nathalie, hovering between the door to the building, and his car.

As his caretaker gave him a stern look, Adrien sighed and came back towards the car without anymore argument. His cheek rested on the cold glass of the window, and he caught eyes with an odd old man sitting outside the school as they drove past.

At the end of the rather uneventful first day of school, Marinette made her way home with Alya. They exchanged phone numbers, and Marinette couldn't really hate her first day at school. When she entered her house though, and made her way up to her room, she found an odd object sitting on her sofa. It looked like a tiny wooden box, and when she opened it, she saw a pair of earrings lying in it.

 _Now who could have put these here? Mom? Maybe because I was stressed out about the first day of school, she got me a present…_

Halfway across Paris, Adrien discovered an identical wooden box sitting on his own couch. He, in turn, wondered if Nathalie had put it there, as an apology for not letting him go to school that day. Maybe even his father had asked her to give it to him. He could only hope. He opened it and found a ring laying inside.

After some hesitation, both teenagers put on their separate jewelry, and then the disastrous came alive.

* * *

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, what are you?!" Marinette stumbled backwards.

The small, red bug fluttered towards her. "Marinette, Marinette calm down. You've been chosen. It's hard to explain, but if you just say the words 'Spots on', then we can deal with this later."

Marinette looked at the strange creature. "OH MY GOSH, you can _talk_?! How? What? Is this some weird illusion? What's going on?"

The small creature stopped in mid air and looked like it was thinking. "Marinette, I'm Tikki, you have to stay calm. You've been chosen for a higher purpose, and I'm your kwami. If you only say the words 'Spots on', then we can save all of Paris together. There's a person who has stolen a dangerous object and is threatening Paris with it. We must act quickly to stop them."

Marinette crinkled her eyebrows. "Spots… on…? Why do I have to say-"

She was cut off by a rush of red light, and soon, she wasn't herself anymore.

* * *

In Adrien's room, a similar thing happened. A tiny, black, bug-like creature appeared. Adrien was shocked. It looked at him lazily. "Hey, what's up? My name's Plagg. Could you say the words 'Claws out' please? It would be rather appreciated."

"What? What's happening? Is this a weird practical joke? Although, no one in this house has a bit of humor."

Plagg floated away, towards one of Adrien's many personal items. Adrien followed him. "Yeah, no. Someone else put me here in your room. But that doesn't matter. Um so, hey, kid, can you say those words for me? 'Claws out'. Then we don't have to bother with each other anymore."

Adrien narrowed his eyes. "Why would I say those words?"

"Uh, to gain ultimate power? There's a superhero situation going on right now. Do you want to save all of Paris?"

"Wait, if I say those words, I can become a superhero?" Adrien's face lit up in a sort of glee.

Plagg looked at him, uninterested. "Yeah, sure, whatever."

"Claws out!"

And with that, Adrien was surrounded by green light, and ceased to be himself too.

* * *

They met outside the school, where some students were still hanging about. The Black Lady was there first, sitting on the edge of the building. Plague Cat appeared behind her. "Hello, M'Lady. Haven't seen you in a while. I like the style change."

The Black Lady glanced at him and smiled, touching her hair bun thoughtfully. The red ribbon tied around her neck flowed in the wind, and her heels clacked against the stone walls of the building. Her suit had far more black on it than a regular ladybug would have on its body; black boots, black upper-arms, black waist and back, as well as black spots of course. Her face mask looked like the wings of a butterfly, with a sheer red layer at the tips.

"How'd it go for you?" she asked her partner-in-crime.

"The kid was easy to convince. How'bout you?"

"The girl was easy to convince too. You look nice too, you know."

To her, it looked like he touched his mess of blonde hair self-consciously. She couldn't tell though, as he wore a full, metallic face mask that shielded any emotions he might show, and made him look like a lion. The rest of his suit was just as dark black, with the same glowing green lines going down the edges of his suit that matched the glow from the eye sockets in his mask. He had a silver bell at his collar, cat ears in his hair, and a long, crooked tail with another glowing green line going down it. He looked like some odd fallout survivor or a cat-like plague doctor.

"Anyways," The Black Lady continued. "Are you ready to announce our rule of Paris?"

She could feel Plague Cat's smirk. "'Course, M'Lady. It should get Butterfly's attention at the least."

Grabbing his baton from between his belts, Plague Cat swung down to the square in front of the school. The Black Lady followed on her yo-yo, and raised it up as a recording device once they were on ground. The students who were still hanging around, looked at the two in surprise and confusion, but they were ignored.

The Black Lady clicked a few buttons, and suddenly all screens across the city showed her and Plague Cat's face. "Hello Paris," she started off with a smirk. "You don't know us, but you will in time. For now, I'm the Black Lady, and this is my darling Plague Cat."

Plague Cat waved his fingers and echoed a tinny "Hello!" from behind his mask.

The Black Lady continued. "And we, we are here to rule Paris. Don't worry. You don't have to change a thing- not yet at least. But, if we please, you are now under our jurisdiction. We will be speaking to your mayor soon. Goodbye!"

And with that, she clicked the compartment of her yo-yo closed.

Across the pavement, a student spoke up in irritation and disbelief. He was holding a piece of paper, scrunching it up again and again in a low anger, as if he didn't know it was there anymore. "Who do they think they are? No one can just barge in and tell anyone else what to do, especially if it's a city full of people!"

The other kids around him echoed in light, though stunned, agreement.

Across the city, a man had been waiting, and suddenly awoke from his cocoon. Butterfly's eyes flashed open, the metallic covering on his window drew back, and he rose with the thousand flitting butterflies around him.

"My little akumas, this is just what we need. The cat and ladybug disastrouses have appeared, and already, someone has the will and the drive to fight against their tyranny." He held out his hand and one of the many winged creatures hovering around came to land on it. Slowly he closed his hand, and when it opened, the butterfly had a purplish tint to it. "Fly away my little akuma, and virtuize him!"

* * *

Back in front of the school, the kid, Ivan, was approaching the two super-suit clad weirdos. They were still standing in front of the school and seemed to be chatting lively. Suddenly, he stopped, and a voice echoed in his head at the same time a butterfly slipped between his knuckles and was absorbed into the paper he held.

 _"Hello Strongheart. My name is Butterfly, and you seem like you have someone to fight for. These two, The Black Lady and Plague Cat have no right to take over Paris. Now, I can give you the powers to fight against them. I only ask that you bring me their disastrous, the ladybug earrings and cat ring in return."_

Ivan nodded. "Okay Butterfly." And slowly, he was encased in a tower of rock.

The Black Lady glanced nonchalantly in his direction. "Oh, Kitty, look over there! It seems that we already got Butterfly's attention."

Plague Cat's head swivelled in the direction she was looking. Again, she could hear the smile in his voice. "Neat! It's been a while since we've fought someone. It should be interesting in new bodies."

"Now, make sure you don't use all your strength. We haven't fought as these people before, and we don't know how they'll react."

Plague Cat nodded at her, and then sprung into action. He took out his staff again, and vaulted closer to the giant, rocky creature. "Hey, you big pile of meat, I assume you're looking for me?"

Strongheart's face molded into an expression like squinting. "I'm made of rock, not meat."

Plague Cat thumbed his nose at Strongheart and vaulted off again, though it was an odd thing to do with an expressionless mask over his face.

Then, behind them, a siren was heard. The Black Lady swivelled. Either because of the sudden giant-rock-man, or because screens across Paris had been hijacked, a few police cars had appeared.

"Drop your weapon…. thing." A voice called from near the vehicle.

The Black Lady glanced behind her and was glad to see that Plague Cat was still being followed in the opposite direction by Strongheart. She turned back and smiled at the policeman. "Oh, you mean my yo-yo? No thanks."

And with that, she deftly threw it towards the police car, the string cutting through the metal of the car, and the capsule at the end hitting the policeman in the face. Then, she drew it back, and leaped after Plague Cat.

The two of them were able to guide him towards the stadium, dodging his attacks and sending them into nearby buildings and police cars along the way. Once they arrived, The Black Lady caught sight of someone else following them out of the corner of her eye.

"Alya…" she murmured. Her gut twisted a bit, and she suddenly felt like bolting away from the scene.

A raised eyebrow was felt from behind Plague Cat's mask. "Hmm?"

The Black Lady shook her head. "Nothing. Just lost my focus for a second. Now, what do we know about Mr. Rockface over here?" She asked as the two of them dodged another one of Strongheart's fists, and leapt up to the rim of the stadium.

"Uh, well, when I threw my baton at him, he grew in size. Could just be my bad luck working against me though."

"No… I think that must be his power, he gets stronger with every attack. If I know Butterfly's akumas, then that means it's poisoned something of his… Ah, his fist! He's kept it closed this entire time. Would you be a darling and help me pry it open?"

Plague Cat nodded. "Of course M'Lady. Though, I have a better idea. _Cataclysm!_ "

"Oooh, rock turns to rubble. I like it." The two of them leapt down to the field of the stadium.

The Black Lady darted one way, throwing insults in the direction of Strongheart. Plague Cat darted the other way, and as Strongheart began to pay attention to the Black Lady, Plague Cat readied his Cataclysm.

Then, he paused. The Black Lady shot daggers at him from across the field, but his slight hesitation was all it took. A girl with reddish-brown hair and glasses had grabbed a piece of leftover gym equipment and threw it at Plague Cat. It caused him to tumble to the ground, and the grass around him turned to dust.

Strongheart caught sight of him, bellowed, and brought his fist down. Plague Cat zipped out of the way and back towards the Black Lady.

"That was definitely bad luck," he huffed. "That girl is really unhelpful. I hope she gets crushed in collateral damage."

"Why'd you stop, though?" the Black Lady hissed.

Plague Cat only shrugged. "I dunno. I just… my gut pulled back or something."

"Well, we'll go back to plan A then. Get your staff ready. _Lucky Charm!_ "

A baton just like Plague Cat's, but with a sharp point at the end, fell to the ground, and she felt another raised eyebrow from his direction. "I know exactly what to do with this, don't worry. I need yours too, though."

He shrugged, and tossed it over. "Of course, M'Lady, and what do you need me to do?"

"Go antagonize him, but let yourself be caught. I'll do the rest my dear, don't worry."

Another shrug, and Plague Cat raced off again. After he managed to get himself caught, the Black Lady swung off in Strongheart's direction too. His other fist opened up to catch her, but he dropped the ball of paper he was holding at the same time. As he caught her, she used Plague Cat's staff to keep his fist from closing. Then, she stabbed the piece of paper on the ground with her lucky javelin. It disintegrated and the akuma flew away, and Strongheart fell to the ground, a teenage boy once again.

She landed on her feet near Plague Cat. "How was that?"

He looked towards the ground. "Are you forgetting something…?"

She thought about it. "I don't think so…" Her head hurt, and as she searched her thoughts, it felt like something was blocked off from her. Still, she would remember it later if necessary.

Plague Cat's ring beeped. "Well, it's time to go. See you next time, M'Lady."

They both shot off in opposite directions. Alya came over to help Ivan up, and to ask what happened.

* * *

Across the TV were reports of what happened. Damage to the city, footage of the fight, and then, purple butterflies fluttering into people and transforming them into frozen, rocky monsters. No one knew who the good guys were. Marinette had a headache. The tiny red bug was berating her.

"You made her forget! You made the Black Lady forget what to do; how could you do that?!"

Marinette looked at her hands. She remembered every second of the fight. She remembered Plague Cat making threats against her new friend. She remembered assaulting a police officer. But… she had, somehow, made the Black Lady forget that she was supposed to…. capture the whatever in her thing? Marinette smiled to herself; lightly, and full of sadness.

Tikki was still prattering away, but Marinette ignored her, and curled up on her bed instead. _I did something. I helped out my city, at least a little bit._

All the way across Paris, Adrien was in his room, clutching a pillow to his head, and hating himself just as much. Plagg was droning on in the background, watching the TV while eating a piece of cheese from Adrien's untouched dinner.

"Oh, so _that's_ what she forgot. You know kid, you made Plague Cat forget about it too. Oh well, nothing we can do until the Black Lady surfaces up again. Do you have any camembert?"

Adrien sat up and glared at the tiny cat-creature. "I'm not giving you cheese."

Plagg shrugged. "Oh well. I can find my own food. See you later, kid."

And with that, he flitted out of the room, and Adrien went back to shoving a pillow into his face.

* * *

Butterfly stood in his room, staring out at Paris, and muttering to himself. "They may have won this fight, but it seems that whoever they chose was strong enough to disobey them. And Ivan still has fight left in him. Paris may be reeling, but soon I will have the disastrous, and things can go back to normal."

And with that, his stained glass window closed once again, and Butterfly waited for the inevitable.

* * *

 **A/N: Hi guys. Wow, it's been a long time; apologies. It seems like everything was against me posting again. There was another death in my family, and I didn't feel like writing, and then school overloaded me with work. I kept on oversleeping in the mornings, which is my best time to write, and then I got sick. But, now that I'm feeling better, and with school over, I finally can start in on this fanfic. Hope you like the story! It's going to stay kinda close to the tv show for the beginning at least. I might also start writing another fanfic and update the two once every week. But we'll see. I should be able to write more now that that I'm started in on the story though!**

 _ **(Also, if you have any story questions, feel free to ask! The one thing I'm going to try to clarify right now is that, yes, Tikki and Plagg sorta possess Marinette and Adrien respectively, but really, it's more like the two are mushed together to create a new being. Therefore, they can affect each other's memories and actions, just like what happened with Marinette at the end there. I hope to explain it more later in the story.)**_


	2. Strongheart

The TV was droning on downstairs, still talking about the stone monsters and the events of the previous day. Marinette was staring into the mirror, watching her hand convulse as she reached towards the earrings in her ears. As she poured all her concentration into willed her hand to move, a twittering laugh was coming from that horrid little bug. She had learned to hate that laugh in a span of a night.

"You idiot! You can't them off! You accepted them! There's a bit of the Black Lady in you now, and you can't do anything she doesn't want you to." Tikki giggled.

"What use do your fancy words and disappearing act do then?" Marinette growled at the kwami, still trying to keep her focus on the mirror, but failing. Her resolve had been crumbling away bit by bit the whole night. The kwami had not let her sleep a wink.

"All those do is trigger your transformation into her. And I'm here to make sure you don't do anything naughty while the Black Lady is in your subconscious. But we're bonded too! So if you don't mind, I would really appreciate it if you said 'Spots on' for me, and we can go fix this mess!"

The little creature smiled sweetly again, and Marinette felt her jaw work to open, and her lips work to form those two words. She was able to shake out of the feeling though, and after staring at the mirror for a second more, she sighed, and let her hand flop to the top of the vanity. Then she grabbed her bag and scampered downstairs, off to school.

A block away, Marinette heard twittering in her backpack, and looked inside. There sat the kwami, giggling to herself. Immediately, Marinette threw the bag away from herself. Then, upon seeing the curious glances she was given, she blushed, smiled too wide, and picked it up again. As she continued towards the school, she heard Tikki whisper in her ear.

"You don't want to attract too much attention! People might ask questions. And that can go nowhere good."

* * *

By the time Marinette had made it into class, everyone else was already in their seats. The first period passed rather quickly. Then Marinette made sure to dump her bag in her locker and lock it before she went off on her own. And around that time, Alya sidled up to her.

"Hey girl? How ya' been? What do you think of what happened yesterday? Seems weird that we're back in school already, doesn't it? Not even a day off because of supervillain destruction."

Marinette shrugged meekly, and glanced away.

Alya grinned at her anyways. "Well, I saw all of what happened first hand, and no matter what the bullies at this school say, Ivan is a hero. That "Black Lady" and her Plague Pet were there to destroy the city, to solidify their rule. Every bit of damage was because of them, and Strongheart was fighting them! He was keeping them back for all of us. And I, I already have a blog against them."

Marinette's head popped up. "Are you sure that's a good idea? From what I heard, the two of them seemed pretty seriously evil… I wouldn't mess with them if I were you."

Alya's eyes softened. "Girl, I understand what's bringing you down. You're afraid! We all are. But we have people to stand up and protect us. And it's important to spread the word against them too."

The two slowed down and watched Ivan across the way, as he was being surrounded by students, questioning him, praising him, or otherwise. Then Chloe came in and spoke up and ruined it all.

"Oh hey, Pebbles. I know the news is making you out to seem like a decent person, but we all know the truth. Once a monster, always a monster. You're worse than those other two who showed up."

Ivan glared, and then pushed through the students surrounding him. Marinette ran off to see if he was okay. And then Alya walked up to Chloe to berate her. But the blonde girl was too distracted, upon seeing who walked through the door.

* * *

Marinette had to swerve through a few hallways before she found Ivan, sitting on the floor, his back to the wall. He was looking at a piece of paper. Marinette frowned for a moment, and then a painful memory of the fight reminded her.

 _That must be paper he was holding when he was… akumatized? Is that it?_

Slowly, Marinette approached him, and slid down the wall next to him. "Hey Ivan."

He glared lightly at her, which she guessed was a good start. "What do you want."

"Nothing, I just… All the stuff Chloe says is stupid. You shouldn't listen to her at all. Yesterday, you were the hero Ivan. You stood up against tyrants, and stood up for what you believed in. That's so powerful, and so important! Other people have no idea what they're talking about."

Ivan gave her a less annoyed look. "You really think so?"

Marinette nodded firmly. "Yes. I swear what you're doing is right. And you can't give up the fight! Something happened to you, and it gave you the ability to fight back. Always stand up for yourself Ivan. Do what your heart tells you to do. That's super important."

Ivan smiled softly, and then got up and walked back to class. There was fire in his heart again. Marinette watched him go before getting up herself. Then, she heard a soft voice nearby.

"So, I hear Alya might be getting into trouble soon…"

She turned rapidly, and saw Tikki fluttering nearby. All bits of courage Marinette had were drained from her system, and she hurried back to class, leaving the bug fluttering in the corridor by herself.

* * *

"Adrikins, you made it!" Chloe squealed. "But you should know that school starts an hour earlier than this. I know, _unfair_ , but there's like rules and stuff that you have to follow if you want to be here."

Adrien rubbed his neck. "Yeah, sorry. Me and my dad had… to talk over a couple things before he let me come. Uh, what are you doing?"

Adrien watched Chloe put a wad of gum on the seat across from the one she had shown to be his. He glanced to his desk mate, but the kid just glared slightly and looked back towards his phone.

Chloe looked back at him and grinned. "Oh nothing. The brats that sit here just need to learn a little respect, is all."

Adrien furrowed his eyebrows. "I'm not sure that's necessary…"

Chloe slid into the seat behind him and shrugged lightly. "Watch and learn, Adrikins. This is school culture."

Adrien ignored her and leaned over to remove the gum. Then, suddenly he heard an indignant cry behind him. He turned and blushed immediately.

Marinette frowned at him. "What are you doing?"

Chloe and Sabrina giggled from behind the two of them. Marinette turned to look at them and then sighed. "Of course. You're Chloe's new friend, aren't you? I don't need this right now. Please, move."

She pushed past Adrien and laid out a handkerchief on the seat, and then spoke worriedly to Alya about her blogging idea again. Adrien's blubbering did nothing to convince her he was trying to help, so he went back to his own seat, and the kid sitting next to him looked up.

"You really aren't that bad, are you dude? Why didn't you say it was Chloe alone?"

Adrien shrugged. "I was just trying to help. I can't just throw Chloe under the bus though. She's been my only friend, since we were kids."

The other kid smiled. "Well, I'm Nino, and you have a _new_ friend now."

* * *

Butterfly sensed the new strength in Ivan almost immediately, and sent out the akuma.

It flew into the same piece of paper Ivan was still carrying, and Butterfly's voice echoed in Ivan's head.

 _"Hello Strongheart. I see that the Black Lady has not been able to take away your strength yet. Use this opportunity to find her and Plague Cat, and take their disastrous away, freeing your city of evil!"_

* * *

The first thing they heard was destruction outside. Most of the students raced to the windows. Chloe had the gall to say that Ivan was "at it again". The teachers told them to stay inside where it was safe, but barely anyone listened. Chloe shrugged and made this an excuse for her to leave halfway through the school day. Adrien felt an odd tug towards the locker room. Alya began to race out of the classroom, after Strongheart. Marinette tried to stop her.

"Alya, you can't follow him, you'll get in danger!"

"Girl, don't worry, he's the hero! Anyways, I'll need this for my blog." She grinned, and then was off. Marinette frowned, but grabbed her backpack and followed swiftly after.

As Adrien approached the locker room, he heard a small voice from in his locker. "Hey kid, come over here."

He opened it quickly, and saw Plagg, sitting on his bag and eating his lunch.

"How in the world did you get here?" he yelped.

"Doesn't matter. What does matter is that the fun has just begun, and we better get out there, and help while we can until the Black Lady shows up."

"What? No way! You can't make me transform again!" Adrien backed away and slammed the locker shut.

Plagg phased through the material in an instant. "Oh, I can. C'mon kid, just say the words."

Adrien's throat spasmed, and his lips moved without his intent. "Claws out," he croaked, and he was encased in green light once more.

Chloe had made her way out to the street, rather uncaring of what was going on. She called her dad on her phone, and asked for him to send a car to pick her up. She used her best whiny-frightened voice, and he gave in in a second.

Then, Strongheart, only a few blocks away, spotted her, and came back towards the school.

"Chloe. You're just as bad as the rest of them. I wonder if the supervillains will come running if one of their own is captured."

And with that, the hulking monster scooped up the shrieking girl, and kept making his way through Paris.

* * *

Marinette trotted along the sidewalks, looking for Alya. She had not seen which way her friend had turned, and had now lost her. Then, she heard a yelp. Marinette's eyes widened, and she rushed through an alley to an adjacent street. There was Alya, getting pinned behind a car that was tossed aside by one of those awakened stone beings that served Strongheart. It seemed like it didn't notice Alya at all. And she was getting crushed.

"A horrible situation, yes? I can help, you know," Tikki echoed in Marinette's ear.

The girl jumped and turned on the kwami. She glowered. "Why would you help Alya?"

Tikki grinned. "Well, I wouldn't be the one helping Alya. The Black Lady would. I'm sure we can both convince her that it's the right thing to do… Just say the words, and your friend is safe."

"No!" Marinette yelped. "I don't trust you."

The little bug shrugged. "Well, all's fine by me. I don't care if your friend gets hurt. But she definitely will, unless you transform. You have no power right now. The Black Lady does."

Marinette looked towards Alya again. Then she looked at her feet, and her last bit of resistance fell away. "Fine. Spots on." She said the words completely willingly.

Alya hardly noticed who tossed the car away. She was coughing on the ground for a few seconds instead. And when she looked up, both the stone being and her savior were gone.

* * *

"Hey Kitty. Don't feel like joining in on the fight?"

Plague Cat swirled around, and saw the grinning face of the Black Lady facing him. He looked back towards Strongheart, who was carrying a screaming girl towards the Eiffel Tower still.

Plague Cat shrugged. "That pile of rock may think we'll save 'one of our own', but he's wrong. Anyways, I was waiting for you, M'Lady. You always know what to do."

The Black Lady grinned wider. "And indeed I do. I have some intel that 'Strongheart' over there has his big, strong heart set on someone. Heard it through the grapevine, from some classmates of his. And there she is!"

The Black Lady extended her finger to point a few blocks down, where a girl wearing a pink bandana over colorful hair was running after Strongheart too.

As always, the Black Lady could feel Plague Cat's grin. "Kidnapping?"

"Kidnapping," she affirmed.

Quickly, they extended their weapons and swung down to where Mylène was, surrounding her. The girl stopped short and paled. "Uh… hi?"

Plague Cat grabbed her in an instant, and they both swung towards the Eiffel Tower, where Strongheart was waiting.

* * *

Strongheart had climbed halfway up the tower. The police had surrounded him. The mayor was demanding his daughter back. Strongheart shrugged, and dropped her.

And then, the Black Lady appeared out of nowhere, and caught the girl. She brought Chloe back to her father.

"Only because you're the mayor. I expect to have a chat with you soon. Also, you might want to call off the police. I don't care about their lives, as much as I care about your daughter's," The Black Lady smirked, and André nodded, eyebrows furrowed, and expression reluctant.

The Black Lady walked towards the tower again, with smooth confidence. "That did nothing for you, Strongheart. And now might be the time that we tell you, we have a hostage of our own."

She pointed behind her, and Strongheart's eyes narrowed in on Plague Cat, standing far across the way on a roof, but waving enthusiastically, with a girl by his side.

"Mylène!" Strongheart roared. "You monsters!"

The Black Lady laughed. "I've never found a more perfect example of the kettle calling the pot black."

Strongheart huffed. "I'm here to free Paris of your tyranny!"

"Is that what Butterfly told you?" The Black Lady shook her head. "You're barely a match for us. _Lucky Charm_!"

And with that, a hang-glider fell from the sky. The Black Lady grabbed it, kicked off from the ground with an extra amount of force, and flew back towards Plague Cat and Mylène. She heard Strongheart calling for his armies of rock-monsters, but he was too late.

Plague Cat extended his baton and raced towards the Eiffel Tower at the Black Lady's cue. The Black Lady grabbed Mylène and flew across the area surrounding the tower. As Plague Cat attacked Strongheart, the Black Lady came closer to the tower. Then, when Plague Cat was captured in one of Strongheart's fists, the Black Lady dropped Mylène.

Strongheart sprung from the tower towards her, opening up his other fist, that still contained that piece of paper. The Black Lady dove for it, and as Strongheart caught Mylène, the Black Lady tore the paper in half. The butterfly flittered out, but she caught it this time with her yo-yo. When she released it, it was white. She grinned. "Bye-bye little butterfly."

Then she tossed her yo-yo in the air. " _Disastrous Ladybug_!"

The stone beings all around turned back to people. But the damage did not repair itself, and Ivan, who was once again human, put his hand to his head and had a gloomy expression. Mylène came closer to him, but he turned away.

"You know, you were really brave," she whispered.

Ivan shook his head. "I don't feel like fighting anymore."

From off on the side, the Black Lady and Plague Cat grinned together. Then they were gone.

* * *

The next morning, Adrien was greeted by his father, who at first scolded him for disobeying him the previous day, but then let him go to school.

Adrien couldn't really feel excited. The previous day the news had announced that the mayor of Paris would, for the time being, cooperate with the Black Lady and Plague Cat, and looked forward to discussing with them in detail what should be done. Plagg told him that that talk would be sooner rather than later, but the kwami left him alone for the time being.

Marinette felt just as glum. Alya looked at her worriedly when they sat down, and suggested they move seats, and show their classroom supervillain who's boss. Marinette did not agree. When Adrien entered the classroom, she looked at him blandly. She was still frustrated about the previous day, but she didn't have the energy to glare. He looked tired too.

After school, Marinette was slow to leave. And when she got to the door, she realized it was raining. Of course. She sighed.

And then, an umbrella appeared at her shoulder. "Hey."

She turned to look. There was Adrien, offering her his umbrella. He smiled softly. "I really am sorry about yesterday. I swear, I was only trying to help. I'm not used to any of this."

Marinette blushed and looked to the side. "It's… it's fine. There's so… so much else going on right now. A sma- small incident like that doesn't matter."

Adrien's face darkened slightly. "Yeah. Things are… scary right now. I don't know what to do. I feel like I could do something, but I just… can't."

Marinette could only manage a "Yeah."

He looked her way again, and his face lost its darkness. He smiled and offered the umbrella to her again. "Here, take it. It's pouring. I'll be fine, but I think you have a farther way to go then me."

Marinette studied him for a second more, and then carefully grabbed the stem of the umbrella. Once Adrien let go, it suddenly closed on her. She heard his bell-ring of a laugh, and she chuckled too, peeking out from under the umbrella at him.

He grinned wider, and blushed. "See you tomorrow."

Marinette blushed harder. "Se- see you to-to-morrow to-too."

Adrien was already making his way down the steps towards his car. He turned back to look at Marinette before climbing in, and rubbed the back of his neck, blushing brighter. "What a girl," he whispered to himself.

As Marinette watched his car drive away, she knew she was in love.

* * *

 **A/N: Aloholaha, how you guys doing? I hope you enjoyed the second chapter, and sorry it took a bit longer than a week! As always, I kept getting caught up in things. Anyways, I hope to finish out another chapter by Friday, but if I don't see you then, it's gonna be till the 22nd, unfortunately. I have another family member in low health, and me and my mom are heading to Canada so we can visit her. We want to see her before/if anything happens. But, I will be writing during that time, and hopefully I'll have two-fold of the work done, so I can upload extra when I get back. And by the way, do you guys like the better cover? I drew it myself. I have some references for BL and PC's outfits, but I wanted you guys to get a taste of what I had in mind.**

 **Anyways, comments are awesome, and I'll see you all later!**


	3. The Bubbler

"There." Marinette admired her handiwork. She never would have thought that designing could have served as such a welcoming distraction.

"You're going to give him that? Plain and ugly, just like you I guess," Tikki muttered. Marinette lost all of her joy, and began to bustle around the room, ignoring the kwami.

This is what her life had been like for about a week. Luckily, it involved no transforming into an evil super villain to oppress the citizens of Paris. Except at the beginning, of course. She could still remember the queasy feeling in her stomach as she stood casually next to that metal-masked monster in the mayor's office. Never had she hated Chloe's family more. André Bourgeois had signed an agreement saying he would hold up the "rule" of the Black Lady and Plague Cat when they weren't around. In return, the two villains had agreed to not dispose of the mayor. Most of Paris had no idea about the specifics of the agreement. It seemed less than legal.

After that, Marinette spent most of her time distracting herself from the goings on in the world, and ignoring Tikki. Alya loved talking about the state of Paris- she had indeed started an underground blog speaking out against The Black Lady and Plague Cat. Marinette in turn was constantly worried about her friend, and always made sure that Tikki was out of earshot when the two friends were talking. Besides designing, Marinette had been using Adrien as her go to distraction. Beautiful, radiant, _perfect_ Adrien. She had found whatever articles, pictures, and bits of information she could on her favorite designer's son. And she had mooned over him at every given moment.

And today, today was his birthday.

She had made him a baby-blue scarf, one she knew would compliment his regular outfit perfectly. It was simple, yet fashionable, and it was all she could do in the short time frame she had left herself, after going back and forth on whether she should make him something or not.

As Marinette grabbed her bag and rushed down the stairs- not checking to see if Tikki was in the bag or not, because the kwami usually found a way to haunt Marinette no matter what- she passed her parents without much of a greeting and rushed out onto the sidewalk, making her way to school.

* * *

Adrien was watching the clouds float by, thinking on various things, and listening to Nino's furious babble on the side.

"Dude, what is wrong with your dad? I mean, this is a big thing in any kid's life! You deserve to have a party."

Adrien shrugged. "Really, Nino, I don't care that much. And I understand at least some of his reasoning- now isn't the time for birthday parties."

Nino raised his eyebrows at Adrien. "That's _exactly_ why you should have some free time! With everything that's wrong with this city right now, you need to have some normalcy."

Adrien sighed and kept his eyes on a cloud that looked far too much like Plagg for any comfort. "I don't think my father has ever let me do anything considered 'normal'."

He let his eyes flicker away from the sky and they landed on Marinette, standing a couple feet away and looking at him nervously as her friend- Alya, was it?- chatted her ear off. Adrien blushed, glanced at his feet, and then looked back up to wave at her. Since the start of this horrific situation, Adrien had always felt a sort of security and friendliness in Marinette's quiet bumbling. Whenever the classroom talk about the Black Lady and Plague Cat seemed to become too much for him, Marinette would jump in herself and ask everyone to stop talking about it. It was like she knew exactly what he was feeling. She was so sweet, brave, and cute, and Adrien hated that he already liked her so much.

Before Marinette could wander over to talk to him though, Chloe jumped in front of him, throwing her arms around his neck, like usual. "Adrien! It's so fantastic to see you!"

"Uh, you too, Chloe. Just like… every day." He looked very inconspicuously over her shoulder at Marinette. She was gone.

"But Adrikins, today is special!" Chloe whined.

Adrien wrinkled his eyebrows. Chloe rarely remembered his birthday. "You… you know what day it is?"

Chloe laughed. "Of course, silly. It's a Wednesday!"

Adrien sighed and finally unwound from Chloe's arms. "My birthday, Chlo. That's what today is."

Chloe's eyes widened, but she stayed in character. "Well, yes, didn't you get my present?"

Adrien shook his head and Chloe went on a rant on how the deliverers probably failed in sending the package, as he sighed, ignored her, and looked back at the clouds again.

* * *

After school, Alya and Marinette ended up outside of Adrien's house. Marinette shifted the gift box from hand to hand. "Alya, I can't do this. I suck. He doesn't want a present from me!"

Alya looked at her friend disbelievingly. "Girl, shush yourself! You don't suck! You're a great person, and anyone would want a present from you."

Marinette bit her lip. "You don't know _everything_ about me, Alya."

Alya rolled her eyes and shoved Marinette forward towards the mailbox. Marinette stumbled in the most ungraceful way. A camera switched on above them and narrowed in on the two girls, with a voice suddenly coming from nowhere and asking what they wanted.

Marinette awkwardly showed the present and was instructed to drop it in the mailbox. Alya reminded her about the note. Marinette groaned and thought it was fate telling her to quit bothering. As a normal girl, she was awkward and bumbling and crazy. But not only did she have normal human drawbacks. She also had a creepy bug following her around that could turn her into a supervillain at any given moment. Lose-lose, it seemed.

* * *

Nino made his way to Adrien's house after school too. He ended up standing in the middle of the entry hall, awkwardly staring up at the gigantic framed photo of a rather uncomfortable-looking Adrien and his father, all dark and brooding. Gabriel walked in and raised his eyebrow at the boy.

"Adrien's friend, I assume? He's not home yet."

Nino stuttered his speech slightly. "I know, my d-sir. I came to ask you to… reconsider on letting Adrien have a birthday party. I know that with everything going on, it might seem silly, but Adrien does everything you ask of him, dud- uh, I mean, sir. He deserves a chance to just party for a bit."

Gabriel searched Nino's face for a couple moments. Then his eyes seemed to glint, and he hardened his expression. "No. Adrien is my son, and as his parent I have the right to limit what he does and does not do. _You_ have no right to barge in here and try to make my decisions for me."

Nino's face blushed red with frustration, but before he could speak, the golden-eyed boy whirled at a voice behind him.

"Nino?" Adrien was standing there, in slight shock. "You didn't have to come and ask for me."

Nino's expression somewhat relaxed. "Of course I did."

"That's it, out. I don't think you're a very good influence on my son for the time being," Gabriel barked from behind the two boys.

Nino turned to glare at him again, but left in a huff. Adrien called out apologies after him, but Nino was barely listening. Authority figures. What was with them? They decided everything for the rest of the world, without so much of a say from the lower class. Adrien's father was just like… just like the current situation in Paris. A big man on top handing power to even bigger dictators. Nino stopped in his tracks. And Butterfly had caught him in his trap.

An akuma made its way into the bubble solution Nino had been carrying with him all day, and a voice echoed in his mind.

 _"Hello, Bubbler. I see you have something against authority figures as much as me. If you want to get rid of the higher ups, than I can give you that power. But I need you to focus on the Black Lady and Plague Cat, and bring their disastrous to me."_

"Will do, mystery man," Nino muttered as he was encased in a tower of purple smoke. His bottle of bubbles shifted into a tank on his back, and in a moment, the Bubbler was off causing mayhem across Paris.

* * *

"Ooh, I smell an akumatized." the bell-like voice jarred Marinette from her thoughts, making her sit up straight, her spine rigid, and her emotions on-edge.

She turned to face the smiling kwami, who was glancing out the window, where endless bubbles were floating in the sky. Marinette stuttered. "No. N-no, I'm not fighting anyone again."

Tikki laughed. "Oh Marinette, your shame can't stop you from transforming."

Worry overwhelmed Marinette as she felt a too-familiar tug at her lips and she began to say the words. She stood up suddenly, and edged away from the little devil, as if distance would help in the situation. It didn't. Soon, the words were pulled from her lips, and she had transformed into the awful Black Lady.

* * *

Adrien gaped out in front of him. It was Nino. Nino, with blue skin, and stupid primary-colored attire, but it was certainly him. Here with a party. As most of the adults of Paris already floated up in bubbles in the sky. Weren't these people supposed to be the good guys? Adrien got an aching feeling in his gut that this probably was not Butterfly's perfect plan. But… for the moment, this might work. Because could Plague Cat appear in the middle of the crowd suddenly? Adrien guessed that might be against Plagg's code.

"What's wrong birthday boy? Enjoy the party!" Nino shouted. He flashed an uncanny grin. "Our guests of honor might be here soon though, so you have limited time."

Adrien looked to the side towards his house and hoped not. He had no idea where Plagg was anyways- the bug had always been far away from him, which was relaxing to a degree- so maybe he had nothing to worry about anyways. Maybe this was a good thing, Maybe he could just have some… fun for a while. It's not like he never got to anyways.

* * *

The Black Lady swung across the city, scouting for the new akuma. Finally, she followed the noise from a certain mansion, and saw a gathering of teenagers, surrounding a brightly colored figure. As she swung closer to take a look at the situation, she suddenly felt an odd tug of recognition in her chest that made her lose her grip on her yo-yo and stumble to the ground. A recognition of the kind kid that she did science projects with last year in class. The one who always lent her pencils when she needed them.

 _No… No, it's Nino. Why is it Nino? Why are all these people… kids?_ The Black Lady felt another tug in the center of her chest. She gasped and suddenly was very certain that she did not want to be alone in this moment. Where in the world was Plague Cat? Not here, that was for sure. The Black Lady took a shaky step back, and as she clutched at her center, her form shivered slightly. Red sparkles hovered in the air around her, and she felt faint. Gritting her teeth, she tugged the yo-yo's cord, and her weapon came toppling down to the ground from where it had been caught in a tree when she fumbled. Gripping the cord, the Black Lady used her right hand to wrap it around her left arm until the sting of the tightness brought her eyes back into focus.

She whispered a final charm to keep her focus and stop her form from sputtering out. "Ladybug, _Give me Luck_."

The voice in her head quieted, and the Black Lady rose to her feet, unwinding the yo-yo's cord. Then she swung into the center of the party. Adrien was chatting with Rose, who looked just as unsure about what was going on as everyone else. The Black Lady landed right next to him, and draped her arm across his shoulders. He stiffened. She whispered in his ear. "This is your party, right? Might be good for you and the rest of these kiddos to get out of here. The mayor made me and my Kitty promise to try to keep Parisians out of the damage caused."

The Black Lady flicked him a saucy grin, before shoving him away, and aiming her speech towards the Bubbler. "Heya Bubbles. Care for a dance?"

The Bubbler frowned. "I don't dance with dictators."

"Can't you see that you are one, honey?" the Black Lady laughed.

The Bubbler's grimace sunk lower and he flashed out a stream of giant purple bubbles towards her. The Black Lady dodged them easily.

Adrien watched the two of them fight from off to the side. Most of the other kids had scattered too. But none were where he was. In a moment, there was a fluttering nearby, and he had the urge to say those dreaded words.

"Cuh-claws out."

"M'Lady, mind if I step in?" Plague Cat suddenly echoed from the Black Lady's left. As always, she could feel his cat-like grin radiating off him, even though she couldn't see it.

"Took you long enough. Don't you know the proper etiquette for taking a lady dancing?" The Black Lady teased, swinging her yo-yo casually so it made a shield. Plague Cat did the same.

"So, what's the plan?"

Before the Black Lady could form any sort of answer, Bubbler glared from across the way, and snapped his fingers so that the small bubble pelting them began to circle and encapture them. He grinned. "That was easy."

The Black Lady raised her eyebrow at the Bubbler, unimpressed. Then she glanced towards Plague Cat. "He's not very hard to fight, I just don't know what his akumatized item is."

Plague Cat looked at the hero in front of them. "Bubble sword maybe?"

The Black Lady nodded in turn. "Maybe."

The Bubbler grinned at them in disbelieving amusement. "Uh, hello? Aren't we fighting a battle here? I think you guys are underestimating me a bit much given I currently have you trapped. Mind handing over your disastrouses? Then I won't send you sky high."

The Black Lady grinned back at him. "Nope, not the bubble sword. But I know what it is then. You're in no position to bargain little man." She turned to her partner. "Care to do something catastrophic?"

The Bubbler's eyes widened, and he moved to kick the bubble into the sky. But Plague Cat had already shouted _Cataclysm_.

In an instant, the bubble had popped, and the two of them were racing out of the small inclosure, through the streets, up onto roofs, and across Paris. The Bubbler followed them. As they ran, The Black Lady threw her yo-yo into the air.

" _Lucky Charm_!"

From the sky fell a bag of marbles.

"Time for a nice, long game of chalk and the like?" Plague Cat teased.

The Black Lady glared at him, and then looked back at their pursuer-by-jetpack. "I think I know I can do with these. We just need to get him to stop flying."

"So then I guess we stop running away?" Plague Cat offered up.

The Black Lady gave him an endearing look as she slowed down. "See, that's what I love about you, Kitty. You can offer up such helpful ideas in the most baffling situation. Get ready to take his sword- we can't attack him if he has a way of attacking us."

As the Bubbler landed on the roof they were currently on, Plague Cat lept to the side. Before he could throw any attacks, the Black Lady rushed him, and as he ran at her too, she scattered the marbles, and flung her yo-yo around his right arm. The Bubbler fell to the ground, lost his grip on the sword, and failed to stumble to his feet again. Before he could reach out for his weapon, Plague Cat had it in his hands, and with a quick stomp to the tank on his back, the Black Lady had cracked it, and a butterfly escaped as it dissolved.

She grinned, and with a quick toss of her yo-yo the butterfly was caught. Then, she threw her lucky charm in the air and with a " _Disastrous Ladybug_ " the faraway bubbles returned families to their homes, and Nino gained back his normal form, with a glum, tired, _emotionless_ look on his face.

"We should go," Plague Cat muttered, glancing at his ring. The Black Lady nodded, and they were off again, leaving Nino on that roof. The boy glanced at his hands, the spilled bubble container nearby, and then at all of Paris. He scrunched his knees up to his chest and curled his head in towards his body. He wanted to scream. But he didn't feel like fighting anymore.

* * *

"Girl, that's _your_ scarf! You gotta tell him that you made it!" Alya huffed, looking at how Adrien flaunted the scarf, and was chatting carelessly with Chloe and Nino.

Marinette ducked her face, and shook her head rigorously. "No, no, I couldn't. Besides…" She looked at Adrien, across the pavement from her, smiling rather happily. Except, in his expression, she could see so much more- tints of sorrow and relief and pain and worry. But over it all was that genuine _"maybe it will be ok"_ sort of feeling, seen in the crooks of his smile, and at the tips of his eyebrows. Marinette raised her head and spoke in a slightly more confident tone. "Besides, I like seeing how happy he is. I don't want to be the one to ruin it for him."

Alya slung an arm over the other girl. "Oh, darling. You could never ruin anything for anyone."

* * *

 **A/N: Hullo, so sorry about the long wait again for chapter 3! Hope it's worth it. I promise I'll get better at posting again. I had a writing class last week, and not a ton of time to work on the story (plus, I was working on my own book, and no matter how much I told myself I needed to take a break to finish this, I wasn't motivated). But, I'm still sorta sticking to the show's canon to form the chapters. As more things change in-story, I'll be creeping away from it more and more. Anyways, I should be posting another chapter tomorrow, and a third later this week to make up for my long absence. See you then!**

 **Also, to the awesome guest review (I'm going to answer with _way_ too many words. If you need it: TL; DR at the bottom…):**

 **1\. They will, eventually, be able to purify (or have Butterfly help them purify) their disastrous. For now though, I'm not exactly sure when I'll branch off from the series enough for that to happen. I want to deal with the struggles of Marinette and Adrien as the bad guys for a while (I also want to include a decent amount of akumas from the series as the good guys). There will be a couple chapters where they get the upper hand- sometimes things will revert back, sometimes Marinette and Adrien will feel all the stronger and work towards learning how to get rid of the disastrous. Part of the problem though is they accepted the disastrous unknowingly. So it's harder to purify and unbond with it for them than it was for Butterfly.**

 **2\. A willing host is kind of like Master Fu. He was part of an order that protected the disastrous, although at first he wasn't totally on their side (which, in this story, is why he caused the destruction of the temple), but he kind of became uncaring and corrupted. A willing host will probably merge more with the disastrous, making it even harder to purify. There won't be any reverse that suddenly turns them good (or else Nooroo wouldn't have said that he could give Gabriel the power he wanted if he didn't purify the disastrous) and there won't necessarily be an increase of power because the evil versions still have a set amount of power in their human form. But if one is willing, in their super villain form there's no delay or struggle for power between host and kwami, and therefore it almost makes them more deadly because they have better reaction time and no hitch in thought process.**

 **3\. On the "Sub-AU". I was thinking for the big switch between the show and the fanfic to have something to do with them realizing who Butterfly is. Your idea sounds really cool, though it wouldn't work for the lore I already have in mind for the story. What I have in mind right now is something about conflict arising mainly for Adrien, but I'm not going to say too much because 1: I really don't have it all figured out, & 2: "Spoilers, darling." **

**TL; DR:**

 **1- Yes, they will, but it might be later in the story. There will be a build-up to their gain-back of power though, so it won't be the same thing over and over.**

 **2- A willing host would make the super villain more deadly because there's no struggle between kwami and host in the fusion.**

 **3- Really interesting idea, I do have something similar in mind, though what you described wouldn't work for the story lore I have.**

 **Anyways, thank you for the cool questions. I answered with way too much, I know. But it really made me think more about where this story could go, and how soon I should diverge from the show.**


	4. Luck Cat

Marinette leaned over the railing, wind blowing her hair about. It was the weekend, and she was still wearing her pajamas, even at eleven in the morning. A blanket wrapped loosely around her body kept her from feeling too cold though. She honestly would not have gotten out of bed if Alya had not come over. The coppery-haired girl stood at her side, arms also over the railing, gesturing as she rambled about the state of the city. One of her hands gripped her phone, and Marinnete was sure Alya was accidentally going to fling it to the streets below as she became more and more agitated.

Marinette was quiet, not something abnormal to Alya any longer. She knew her friend was worried about something, so she would most often leave Marinette alone, and not question her quietness. It was not abnormal for anyone to be worried, or quiet. The less quiet they were, the more worrying it was, to be honest. Chloe, for example, was completely oblivious to the state of the city. Not only that, she was obsessed with the Black Lady. What with her rescue a few weeks ago, and her father's current cooperation with them, she was fully a dictator-supporter. Not that much had happened yet.

Only one other akuma had appeared in the last few days, and Marinette was pretty sure it was a fluke. A man, dressed up as a pigeon, had been easily dealt with by the Black Lady and her cohort. From her time spent as the Black Lady, Marinette had learned that Butterfly could only akumatize someone who decided to step up as a savior for all of Paris. So far, the reasons she had deduced from Paris' would-be superheroes were trivial at best. She was pretty sure "Mr. Pigeon" had mistakenly confused the fact that he was not allowed to feed the birds with the new leadership that had shown up in town.

A sudden buzz infiltrated their peaceful environment. Marinette jumped, and Alya blinked twice before looking at her phone.

"Oh, right. The statue of our dictators is going to be unveiled in half an hour. Ugh, I hate the government," Alya mumbled, as she walked back inside Marinette's room. Marinette followed, and before Alya left completely, she turned around to her friend. "Are you sure you don't want to come protest with me? It's our duty as young citizens to show the government what we want."

Marinette shrugged and sat down on her chaise. "No thanks, I'm feeling kinda tired. I think I'm going to take a nap."

Alya tilted her head with a slightly exasperated smile. "Girl, you just woke up, less than an hour ago! The only other people who I've seen like this are- well, never mind. I'm just worried about you, is all."

Marinette managed a small smile. "I'm fine, Alya. Really. I'm just… adjusting."

Alya reassured her friend with a small pat and another smile, and then was gone.

Marinette flopped back on her lounge and groaned. She stared at the ceiling for a few minutes, letting her mind wander, before a red bug entered her vision. Then she turned to her side and closed her eyes.

"Marinette, I left so that you could have some quality time with one of your friends. The least you could give me is a 'Hello'."

"Leave me alone, Tikki," Marinette sighed.

"You know very well that you have other duties than fighting akumas. Come on. We have work to do."

Marinette opened her eyes slowly and sat up. She looked to the side and frowned. And then she spoke softly. "Spots on."

* * *

Adrien was fiddling softly with his phone, staring at his contacts list. Earlier that week, he had been given a list of numbers by Nino, to integrate him more among their classmates. Among the numbers was Marinette's. He kept telling himself it wasn't a big deal. But, oh, did he want to call her- to call someone. To talk. She had been so kind and oddly understanding. Everyone else wanted to talk about Plague Cat and the Black Lady, except Nino, of course. But Nino just worried him. Marinette instead softly avoided the topic. But then again, what would he even say? They hadn't had much interaction. And, well, her avoidance of the topic of supervillains in Paris always rang out with quiet sorrow. Did he really deserve to use her conversation to think of better things when he was the cause of her sorrow in the first place?

"Hey, Loverboy."

Speak of the devil. Adrien turned off his phone and put it in his locker. Then he turned to face Plagg. He was still in his fencing gear, even though most of the class had left. "Don't call me that."

"With that look on your face, you're smitten over someone," Plagg laughed. "C'mon. It's showtime. Gotta unveil that statue. I promise you'll look handsome, and hey, maybe your crush will be at the unveiling."

Adrien scowled. "There to throw a tomato at my face, I'm sure." He glared at Plagg for a few moments longer before the back of his throat started to dry up, and he sighed. "Claws out."

* * *

Théo stood, wringing his hands, by the side of the cloaked statue. Angry Parisians were beginning to flock to the site, and though most would be focused on the mayor's reveal of the new laws agreed upon with the Black Lady and Plague Cat, he didn't want to be caught in the center of this. He did, however, need the money, and no one else was going to create a statue of a pair of supervillains. It was something more than the money, though. He has seen the Black Lady fighting. She was… graceful, careful. She did what she could to help a few innocents here and there. She couldn't be all that bad in his mind. Not that he would tell anyone that.

In the interim before the ceremony started, Théo was also looking at a picture of the Black Lady. It was slightly blurry, but showed the Black Lady swinging in on her yoyo cord to catch the falling daughter of the mayor. Théo had folded the part of the picture that showed Chloe behind, and had been carrying the photo with him ever since he was asked to create the statue.

Plague Cat appeared first, whirling into the audience on his staff, and walking casually up to where the mayor stood, baton over his shoulders. He nodded his head to him, and Théo shivered at the tinny echo of his voice when he said, _"G'morning Mayor"_ , from behind his mask. It was frightening to see up close, because of the pure lack of emotion. It covered his whole face, the eyes of the mask glowed a radiation-green, and the metal was heavy-duty and futuristic. Was he even human under there?

And then, the Black Lady appeared, swinging down from on high, and landing three-point next to her partner in crime. She stood up slowly, and her butterfly-like mask fluttered because of her movements. Théo couldn't help but stare at her. The mayor coughed, and then with a short introduction, he began to read the new laws decided on out loud.

"Citizens of Paris. I know you are all quite worried at our current situation. But there is nothing to fear, and nothing will change. The only things I need to bring to your attention are, one, I am the current acting representative of the Black Lady and Plague Cat. However, when they need to interfere, I am obligated to let them take over the government for a short while. Secondly, those who choose to side with the notorious Butterfly will have to go through the deakumatization process provided by the Black Lady and Plague Cat. There shall be no superheroes in Paris."

There was a bit of an uproar from the crowd, but Mayor Bourgeois sidestepped the outrage completely, and went on to unveil the statue.

Théo wasn't watching him. Instead, he had his eye on Plague Cat and the Black Lady, who was leaning back against her partner's chest, and whispering up at him. And in that instant, as a tin can hit him on the head, and he heard Plague Cat's hollow laugh, he realized something. The Black Lady must be hypnotized, by Plague Cat. And Théo had to be the one to save her.

He waited until he got back home to his workshop, the distaste for Plague Cat, and the need to free the Black Lady bubbling up inside of him. And as he whispered to himself that he _would_ save Paris, a voice bubbled up in the back of his mind and a butterfly snuck between his fingers into the photo of the Black Lady he had crumpled in his anger.

 _"_ Hello _Luck Cat. My name is Butterfly, and I can see that you believe in the goodness of the Black Lady Maybe you're right, and behind that mask she is a good person. Bring me her earrings, and Plague Cat's ring, and you may find out."_

Théo gave a sideways grin. "I'll hunt them like a cat after chickens."

* * *

Plague Cat and the Black Lady sat side by side on a building, watching the people mill around below. When someone noticed them, they moved along, to another building and other people to watch.

"Did _you_ sense his jealousy?" Plague Cat asked as the walked along the rooftops.

The Black Lady rolled her eyes. "I saw him staring at me, so yes. How long do you want to stay out?"

"A few more minutes. He gave me such a glower when I landed in the park. I want to make sure I'm not wrong. It's easier to stay in this form than go through the exhaustion of interacting with that petty kid again."

The Black Lady looked down and flexed her hand. "Alright. I haven't used my Lucky Charm, so I should be good for a while."

They found another rooftop to look over. After some time had passed, Plague Cat sighed, and stood. And then, they both felt it and jerked to attention.

"Butterfly has released another akuma. I think you might be onto something, Kitty dear."

She could feel Plague Cat's grin, as always. "Well M'Lady, I believe it's best we split to look for him."

"Agreed. See you soon!" She gave him a little wave, and then swung off to the side, as he bounded straight over the street to the next building.

She hadn't mentioned to her partner all of the feelings swirling around in her head. Honestly, it had been so long since she had a form, that she had forgotten if it was ever like this. Did she ever feel this nervous before? This insecure? What was _wrong_ with the host she had chosen? Marinette wasn't resisting her in the same way any longer. There was no conscious fight-back from the girl. But all the emotions flitting around in her brain were certainly stunting.

The Black Lady swung over the streets of Paris for what felt like an age. This slow, searching process was also foreign to her. Previously, when the disastrous came to power, they got to wreak havoc unequivocally for the first few years, even decades of their occupation of an empire. But now, they had an enemy to watch out for. And though she would never admit it out loud, Butterfly was exceptionally tricky.

Suddenly, her yo-yo rung, and she stopped and landed on a roof. Flipping up the screen, she was greeted with a video of Plague Cat standing in front of multiple Parisians, waving his arms about, and screeching about some righteous act of goodness, or something. She honestly couldn't get a hold of any words he was saying. She wrinkled her eyebrows together, and her mask scrunched with her confused expression. "Cat…? What's going on?" she muttered to her communicator.

Then, suddenly, the picture shifted and she was staring at Plague Cat's metallic mask up close again. His echoey voice replied to her confusion. "Apparently his jealousy has stretched into copycat territory. He's calling himself Luck Cat, and I have no clue what he's trying to do. He might have fooled us with this pretense of his. But all the akumas Butterfly has chosen are utterly useless."

The Black Lady shook herself from her daze, and nodded. "Alright, I'm coming. And Kitty, I know you can get impatient, but please wait for me this time. I don't want some incident like our original fall occuring."

Cat's laugh echoed again, from the digital distortion, and his own mask's layers of plating. "Of course, M'Lady. I've learned that you're my one and only master."

She could only imagine his sly wink. With a roll of her eyes, she shut off the communicator, and used her locator to swing back in Plague Cat's direction.

* * *

Plague Cat was crouched at the edge of the roof, watching the confusion Luck Cat was causing in the streets below with vague interest. His leather tail flicked behind him, whether from the wind high up, or from some magic that made it like an extended appendage of his, it would be hard to tell. What was obvious, was that he was indeed itching to leap into the action. But, over the decades, he had fallen more and more under Ladybug's thumb. He barely remembered significant encounters with her, just that each time, he was more and more willing to serve, and he strode further and further away from the sly trickster he once was. He had to admit, it was a little stifling. Suddenly, he was thinking of a raven haired girl with pigtails and pink who he had certainly not met outside of this life. He shook the confusing thought from his head, right as his Lady appeared on the roof behind him.

She strode to his side and knelt down, observing the raving lunatic Luck Cat as well. "I'm going to need you to remove your mask, Kitty darling."

"Already formulated a plan on your way over, I see." His tone almost had a scratch to it, but he went to unlatch his mask immediately anyways.

Placing his hands on either side of the metallic face covering, he hissed a word to himself. " _Cull._ " With a small puff of green sparkles, the mask magically unlatched itself from Plague Cat's face, and as he removed it, it faded into thin air. Beneath the metallic plague doctor guise was a simple eye mask that pulled across his cheeks and nose like the Black Lady's. It had intricate neon green lines weaving across it, in the pattern of a Japanese cat mask, and his eyes still glowed a radioactive green, but he was altogether more human than before. Until he gave a signature smirk to the Black Lady, one she so rarely saw, but so often felt.

"I hate doing that."

"Well dear, you shouldn't keep a hold of it, then. It does us no good to be sentimental about objects. You'll get it back when you transform again, anyways."

"I loved your full mask, you know," he poked her.

She gave him a belligerent sigh. "Don't."

"Back when you had it." He waved his hands through the air. "All pretty like a fan."

" _Cat_ , we have work to do."

"Alright, alright," he laughed, trying to ease down his sudden jocular mood.

"I swear, I like you less without that mask," she turned to him, and he gave her such a pout that her features softened. "It is nice to see more of your host's form though. You've got nice features, Kitty."

"Why thanks, M'Lady," he beamed at her, with the malice of a supervillain still lingering in his eyes. Then all of his features went as cold as his mask. "Well, we have work to do, don't we?"

* * *

Luck Cat been telling the citizens of Paris of how they could stand up against the new tyrants of Paris, of their true identities. Most Parisians gave him odd looks and walked on by. A couple shouted at him, and ignored his words. Until the two true villains of Paris leaped down from the rooftops. Then everyone scrambled.

The Black Lady was the first one he saw, but Plague Cat was the first one who spoke. "You going to finally do something interesting? Or do you just want to give up right now?"

Luck Cat was taken aback by the sound of the villain's voice, and swivelled his vision towards him. His enemy was no longer sporting the metallic mask that still hung over Luck Cat's features. But the new hero of Paris didn't let that stop his aspirations. "Well, well, alley cat. Since I am your better half, it goes that adopting a more human visage won't help you at all. What's yours is mine!"

And with that, Luck Cat reached up to the mask around his face, and after a moment's concentration, removed the external mask from his head, revealing a look that still mirrored Plague Cat's.

The other Cat pursed his lips. "Well, shoot. He even sounds like me."

"He doesn't have a gorgeous partner in crime though, does he?" The Black Lady purred from his side. "Best to just fight this do-gooder as is, and we'll stumble through the bumps and brambles as we go, right Kitty?"

"Right, M'Lady." Plague Cat withdrew his staff and readied himself in a crouching pose. The Black Lady did the same, turned to him, and tapped her yo-yo discreetly. He nodded in return, and then they both leapt at Luck Cat.

The battle went awry very quickly.

Luck Cat quickly snatched his own staff from between his belts, and slashed away the Black Lady on his left side. Then he whirled and slammed into Plague Cat from his right, and swung behind the villain. When tossed aside, the Black Lady had landed on her back on the pavement, so she did not see this switch. When she stood up, the two Cats were fighting each other, and she had no clue which was which.

Scowling to herself, she charged back into battle.

Pushing into the middle of the two identical fighters, she noticed one hesitated to scratch at her, and she smirked to herself. Whirling her yo-yo behind her head and around the other Cat, she tossed one apart from the other, staying by the side of the one who had made sure to save her from harm.

"Thank you, M'Lady. You've done quite a wonderful job for me today," he said darkly.

The Black Lady turned to him, and made her eyes as wide as possible. "Really?"

The face she was staring into stumbled the slightest bit, and then smirked. "Of course, pet."

And then, his expression wavered again, and he took her by the wrist. "M'Lady, I… I will save you," he whispered.

She blinked her eyes at him, and then, quick as a wink, snatched the staff out of his hands and somersaulted away, back to her true Plague Cat, who was grinning. "Sorry for the scratches, M'Lady."

"No offenses seen from you, you played your part perfectly," she murmured to him, then shouted back at Luck Cat in a malicious chortal. "You're quite an idiot!"

The akuma was visibly fuming, but as Plague Cat called his Cataclysm and broke Luck Cat's staff, the hero snapped back at them from across the street. "So it seems are you!"

And with that, he darted off, down the road. The Black Lady sighed and rolled her eyes. "It can never be too easy, can it?"

Plague Cat shrugged. "Seems we're losing our touch."

"You make sure to keep track of him. I'll follow in a minute. I have something to do."

As Plague Cat darted after his copy, the Black Lady twirled and flung her yo-yo up in the air. " _Lucky Charm!_ "

What fell from the sky was a large net, probably used for playing volleyball, or some other sport. She grinned to herself, as she used her yo-yo to lunge up to the rooftops, and then looped her weapon through the center. "This should be easier than it seems, then."

Launching across the rooftops, she chased the double Cats through the streets of Paris, it being easy to spot them from up here. She had to bound across without the help of her yo-yo, and plus a substantial weight, but at least she was not as clumsy as her host-counterpart. Eventually she got in front of the two, but she was able to single to the Cat behind, and have him drive Luck Cat into a narrower street. In which she quickly dropped the net, as Luck Cat unfortunately took a moment to glance behind himself at his pursuer, and therefore got tangled in the Black Lady's web.

She jumped down to the street, and knocked Luck Cat down with her, who was hissing and squirming to no avail. She smiled as her partner caught up, and mocked, "He is quite like you, even throws a tantrum the same way."

The two searched the other Cat until there was a cry of triumph, and a picture found. Plague Cat tore it in two, as the Black Lady caught the butterfly. Then she unwound the akumatized hero, rather ungracefully, and threw her net into the air, shouting " _Disastrous Ladybug!_ " in joy of a job well done. Then each of the villains put their arms over each other's shoulders, sighed sighs of relief that gladly went unnoticed by the despondent Théo who was staring at the fragments of a picture once cherished, before the two split in separate ways, to go change back to their host forms.

* * *

 **A/N: So… that took a while. A really long while… Whoops. I've actually been trying to get back in the game for like two months, but y'know, school and such. Graduation week was heck, but it's all over, so I literally have no excuses left. Hope you enjoy the new chapter, I think I have my footing back with this story again! My writing will probably sound a bit different, but I hope it's for the better! I should be able to keep up a nice schedule again, especially since my school work is done and over with (besides college prep stuff, but y'know). You all are always so kind, and I hope I didn't let you down too much by being gone for nearly a year. Also, at the tail end of my hiatus, I posted another miraculous one shot titled Push and Pull! Go check it out, if you want (it has actual resolution, unlike most of my one shots… nudge nudge). ;)**

 ** _Also,_** **I'm trying to finally get work done on fanfic ideas for other fandoms I've had swirling about… It's not set on something totally recent, but I'm currently working on a MCU fic centered around Thor: Ragnarok (and trust me, it's not my oldest idea either). First chapter has been posted, so if you're interested… go check that out too. :3**

 **(And ya'll are smarter than me... thanks to the guest who noticed I wrote Cat Noir instead of Plague Cat... just changed it quickly)**


	5. Timeweaver

Marinette stared off into the distance, absently tapping her pencil against her sketchbook. She had done her homework. Tiredly, but efficiently. And for a moment, she caught a hint of inspiration. But now, she was lost in her thoughts. Thoughts that surrounded the previous day's encounter with an akuma.

She remembered most of it, even though the memories were hazy and out of focus- such was the effect of seeing out of someone else's eyes. But the conversation and kinship- it was odd. She remembered feeling indebted to, but annoyed by Plague Cat. She remembered the edges of secrets peeking out from behind walls in her mind. Marinette strained to understand what had been going on, but those memories were lost from her head now. They were in someone else's.

"What are you drawing?" The small cherry-red kwami flitted above her, with a small smile on her face.

Marinette spoke softly, but without conviction or hate. She was just too tired. "Nothing."

Tikki, sensing no fun in teasing Marinette as of now, flitted off again. The girl watched the small bug as she rifled through various odds and ends of Marinette's things. Marinette's thoughts faded off again.

As Marinette, she despised Plague Cat. Of course she did. Though the two supervillains were very nonchalant about their plans, they were trying to rule over Paris. They wanted a slice of the world to command. But now that Marinette was getting used to her reality, as unfortunate as it was, she was beginning to wonder 'why'. Why exactly did they want Paris? What had happened in the past?

Marinette's train of thought was interrupted by her mother's voice echoing from below the trap door to her room. Tikki immediately zipped off to hide. "Are you sure you'll be fine at the bakery by yourself?"

Marinette absently rolled her desk chair closer to the entrance to her room. "Yeah, I'm good. You two ought to go have fun. It's fine."

"Okay." Her mother sounded slightly unsure, but did not press the topic. "See you!"

Marinette waited until she audibly heard her mother make her way down the stairs before she rolled back to her desk. She stared down at the half drawing in her lap, and then sighed, put the sketchbook and her pencil down, and got up to wander around her room aimlessly. Tikki reappeared and watched her with unsettling curiosity.

After a moment of wandering, Marinette couldn't help herself. She turned on the small bug, whoose curiosity was still fixed firmly on Marinette, and exclaimed, "So what happened yesterday?"

Tikki eyes widened in small surprise, before her expression turned into a disturbing grin. "You're curious?"

Marinette slumped down on her chaise lounge and looked into the distance. "I'm tired."

She was. She didn't mean to say anything. She just wanted someone to confide in, to talk about this ordeal to. She would speak to Alya, if she didn't think it would get one of them in trouble. And who knew? Tikki seemed able to force words out of her mouth. Maybe she could keep her from talking too.

Still, Marinette was too exhausted to not continue her train of thought. "The two of you, what- urgh, something happened, and I can feel it, but I don't know what it is. It hurts, to have memories, and then empty space."

Before she could go any further, her phone gave an abrupt ring. Marinette's hand quickly shot out to snatch it, and she brought it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Hi Marinette. It's Alya."

Her friend's voice was soft and careful, but still peppy. Marinette couldn't help but give a little smile. As much as she was feeling down, Alya was helping. "Hey Alya. What's up?"

"So, a couple of kids from the school are gathered out in the Trocadéro… Kim bet Alix he could beat her in a race. I just thought, maybe it could take your mind off things? I think that was actually why Kim challenged her, though he would never admit it." Alya's voice was still a little unsure, but excited. Marinette hated to let her down.

She frowned to herself as she replied. "Y'know, Alya, I really would, but today's my parents' anniversary, and I have to watch the shop. I think a client is coming later to pick up a cake… I hope you guys have fun. Y'know what- could you film it for me? I bet Alix will win."

Alya had uttered a wordless sigh in the middle of Marinette's words, but at the last note, she laughed, and replied upbeat. "Yeah, sure! But, please, come over if that client appears soon. It'll start in about ten minutes! Everything's better live."

"Sure. See you."

"Bye!"

Marinette set her phone down and let loose another sigh. The conversation, though it made her heart a little lighter, still tired her out. But, some little voice in her head convinced her things were getting better- back to what could be considered appropriately normal. Then, a small voice outside of her head convinced her of exactly the opposite.

"So, missing a little friendly interaction time?" Tikki snickered. "Too bad, if only there was a way for you be in two places at once."

Marinette narrowed her eyes at the little sprite, suddenly extra cautious.

Tikki turned her head to the side and then gave a tiny little grin. "Oh, wait, I have an idea!"

Marinette glared at her in high suspicion. "What."

Tikki flew closer, with a cool and open expression. "We could transform."

Marinette stood up suddenly, and walked away from the kwami. "Why in the world! No."

Tikki followed her, flying circles around the young girl's head. "Come with me and you can see how good the Black Lady can be! Really."

"No. I'm not self-serving." Marinette's tone was sharp and commanding, but the smallest bit hesitant. Her hands, now clenched in fists, were shaking in just the smallest of measures.

"Oh, honey, you have to save yourself before you can save the world. Come on- Spots on!" And, as Tikki exclaimed the words, they were pulled from Marinette's vocal cords in synchronization.

It didn't hurt as much as it had previously.

* * *

Alix was starring down at the pocket watch her father had given her as she skated forward, slowly. She was just on time, and Kim was taunting her, but she didn't really register this. She wanted to analyze every little detail. It was impeccable craftsmanship. And the secret hidden inside- indescribable. But, she did not have the time to focus on it now. After one last intense look, she lifted her head and skated over to her friends with a grin.

The group was small, and some of the people there looked less than thrilled. Not because they weren't interested in the race, but because… well, the akuma fights had left many tired. Beyond those who were akumatized. Adrien was staring off into space, face scrunched as if in concentration. Unknown to everyone there, he was also thinking of the previous days events.

The memories and emotions of Plague Cat, though unfamiliar, were sitting present, right at the edge of his brain. Plagg was also a constant presence, curled up inside his shirt. When Adrien had noticed the kwami had wormed his way there, he tried to get the bug off him, but having already been running late to the gathering, he finally decided to deal with it for now. It wasn't as if losing the little annoyance today was important.

But, the race was about to start. Alya was frowning off into the distance too, thinking about Marinette, as Alix approached her.

"Hey, Alya, could you hold this? My dad just gave it to me- it's a family heirloom, please keep it safe! 'Kay, gotta go!"

Alya spooked. "Wait, uh, Alix-"

But the skater was already gone, back at the starting line, and Max was preparing to have her and Kim start.

Alya muttered to herself, frustrated. "I have to film this for my blog- and Marinette."

And then, a handsome blonde was suddenly at her side, with a small smile. "Do you want me to help?"

Alya glanced up at Adrien, and returned the smile. "Oh, yeah, sure. Thanks!"

"Filming for Marinette?" Adrien asked as Alya started recording after handing him the watch. Alix and Kim had just left the starting line. Alya only missed the countdown beginning the race.

"Yup. She couldn't make it. I think she's feeling better though. She just had things she had to do at her parents shop."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, they run a bakery. There was a client coming by."

Adrien's eyes lit up. "A bakery? That's neat. I love a good bakery."

Alya gave him a weird look just as Alix and Kim passed their first lap. They were about neck and neck. Still, though it was an odd thing to say, Adrien seemed entirely genuine. Before the conversation could continue, a hand suddenly snatched the watch from Adrien's grip. He spun around in shock.

It was Chloe.

The few kids around them, namely Alya and Nino, also turned to glare at Chloe. Nino, though still in a dejected state, sighed and said tiredly, "Give it back, Chloe. It isn't yours."

"It's not yours either, terror." Chloe grinned rudely at the others, and moved further away. Adrien followed her.

Adrien was so often done with Chloe's nonsense. "Chlo, give it back. It's Alix's. I'm holding it for her. And, please, could you be nicer to Nino?"

Chloe shrugged her shoulders and turned away from the blonde model. "Adrikins, I'm not the one who tried to kill all the adults in Paris. Besides-" With this, she spun around to face him. But, as she did, something on the buildings behind the group caught her attention. No one was looking that way. Everyone was watching Alix and Kim as they came close to the finish line. Alix was gaining on the taller athlete.

"Oh my gosh. It's the Black Lady!" Chloe squealed in delight and flung her arms in the air. Other kids surrounding them turned and gaped in the direction Chloe was looking.

Including Adrien, who was then not able to catch the watch as it flew from Chloe's grasp, and hit the track just as Alix skated over it.

* * *

The Black Lady was glad that some part of her ingenuity rested inside of Tikki. She had to agree with the kwami, this was a wonderful idea. Marinette had been causing too many problems. But, if she was willing- and this soon, imagine!- things could go much smoother. Butterfly would be much easier to catch when she could work to his capture twenty-four seven, instead of entertaining little spurts against mediocre heroes that wasted all her energy. All the Black Lady needed to do was show Marinette that she could be on her side. And thus, super speed as the Black Lady enabled Marinette to be able to watch the race, as well as do whatever her parents needed her to do back at the shop after it finished.

She got to the Trocadéro before even Alix, and lounged on a building not too far from where the group of kids had set up. Kim was off to the side doing stretches. Alya was glancing between her phone, the direction of the bakery, and Nino, who was standing near Adrien. Both looked troubled, though Nino's expression seemed to come more from a lack of energy, whereas Adrien seemed to be concentrating on something out of reach.

Here, the Black Lady opened up her mind. It was troublesome and crowded, but she gave Marinette's consciousness enough space to come crawling forward, to see the world with just as much clarity as the Black Lady could. Thus, their thoughts mingled together in a confusing array, but the Black Lady grinned nonetheless. It seemed to be worth it.

Marinette was clearly worried and cautious and off-set by the whole circumstance. But, the Black Lady did nothing, just sat still and let Marinette watch the race. Everything was going fine; they would be back by the end of the race with time to spare for Marinette to give the cake to Ms. Chamack. Until Chloe saw her.

Though the Black Lady was a little pleased to have a fan, this was an interruption to a peace she was trying to share with Marinette. And what came afterwards was less than pleasing.

Marinette, still at the forefront of the Black Lady's thoughts, immediately caught on to the nasty look Adrien shot in their direction. However, the Black Lady having control over her physical movements meant that her gaze was pulled to where the watch that Chloe had snatched from Adrien had been shattered. Alix skated over to the broken piece, said something to the group, and then noticed the Black Lady as well. And her glare was ten times more poisonous than Adrien's. And though they couldn't hear it from here, as she scooped up the pieces of her shattered watch, the words that formed at her lips were _"It's her fault."_

Butterfly grinned, blocks away, as he sensed a young girl's willingness to get rid of Paris' new bad luck charm. Alix's fury was funneled into the right motive, and he had a new subject. And so soon after the last one. _"Alright Timeweaver. Let's fix the mistakes of the past."_

* * *

The Black Lady quickly shoved Marinette's consciousness down again as she stood up. The kids around Alix scattered as a butterfly flew towards her and lilac smoke surrounded her form. The villainess sighed. This was supposed to be a simple mission that would turn out in her favor, and instead, she had ended up causing another akuma. Great. If only Plague Cat could get here quickly.

Alix was now transformed, covered head to toe in a black and green body suit. She grinned up at the Black Lady, and then skated in the opposite direction. The Black Lady frowned, leaping off the roof. The hero was quick on her feet.

The kids were still nearby, standing awkwardly in a loose semi-circle around where Alix had been. She wasn't as scary looking as other akumas had been up close. But there was something off about her as she grinned at all of them. Adrien felt Plagg squirming around at his side, and gritted his teeth. Both knew he couldn't transform here, but Adrien's legs ached to run away.

Kim frowned in a nervous manner as his rival skated right up to him. "Alix?"

"It's Timeweaver now, but don't worry. I'm here to stop the Black Lady! I just need something from you first." Timeweaver held out her hand, as if to shake on their friendship, and Kim took it warily. And then, as though paused on a video screen, Kim's whole body froze, and slowly began to fade, as Timeweaver pulled her hand from his grasp and grinned, the sides of her suit lighting up.

Timeweaver turned to the rest of them, the scarily relaxed grin staying firm on her face. "Who's next?"

The Black Lady, approaching the group, paused in wariness, and all the other kids took two seconds before deciding to flee. Before Timeweaver could chase after them, an invisible, sharp bolt went through her chest, and she fell to one knee.

Across the city, Butterfly's delight had quickly melted into horror, and a darker side of the disastrous he wore woke up. He could feel the darkness on the edge of his vision, but he still kept a firm grip on Timeweaver's leash, and opened up a line of communication. _"What are you doing? These powers can be used on plant life, animals, but not_ people _! You should know better than that!"_

"Come on, man! Don't worry." Timeweaver gritted through the sharp burst of pain, though still smiling in an almost disturbing way. "They'll be fine, just a little, uh, punishment for breaking my watch. But it'll wear off. Once I go back, they'll all be good again! Anyways, a person gives me a good minute to reverse back with! Plants will take too long."

After a moment of indecision, Butterfly loosened his grip on his new akuma. _"Fine."_

"Thank you," Timeweaver said to the air, before standing up again, and skating in the direction of her fleeing classmates.

The Black Lady didn't know what to do. Something inside her was tugging to go save the other kids, and she knew it was more than the agreement she made with the mayor to not have any civilian casualties. Before she struggled for much longer, a calming voice startled her from her trance.

"Well, this one's crazy. I was hoping for a break, M'Lady."

The Black Lady turned to Plague Cat, standing at her side, head turned in her direction. Of course, she couldn't discern his expression, because his full face mask was fitted snuggly over his face once again. He was holding his staff, prepared for a fight, but was looking to her for leadership.

"Sorry, Kitty," she paused, brows furrowed. "I don't know how dangerous she is, I'm not willing to get close yet. Though, I do think she may be splitting back in time, judging by half a conversation I heard her have with Butterfly."

Plague Cat canted his head to the side. "Seems legit. Also seems that her only way of stealing people's energy is by touching them with her hands. I think we'll be safe if we're careful."

The Black Lady gave him a grateful look as her annoyingly unsure feelings washed away. "Smarter than you look."

And then they both rushed off into the fray.

Without needing to clarify, both split in opposite directions on either side of Timeweaver. The virtuized hero had already absorbed the energy of two more students. The Black Lady guessed she would only need about three more to go back a sufficient amount of time. However, now that the supervillains had joined the fight, Timeweaver was having trouble getting to anymore souls. The Black Lady threw her yo-yo and yanked on the skater's arm. Timeweaver scowled, and skated around a tree, yanking the device loose on a branch sticking out. Plague Cat boxed her away from the other people around by hitting her legs with his staff.

"Now, now. I believe your time's running out, " Plague Cat taunted, tripping her one more time, but making sure to keep away from her grasp.

The Black Lady had dislodged her yo-yo and was moving in. Now that Timeweaver was in a corner, the Black Lady flung the yo-yo and it latched on the akuma's skate, where the Black Lady had seen the butterfly enter. Timeweaver was clearly frustrated, as she twisted and tried to untangle her foot, but she was being pulled across the ground too quickly. Then, a devilish grin popped across her face, and as she was about a foot away from the Black Lady, she stopped struggling, and, in a split second more, lunged at her captor as the Black Lady reached down to yank at her foot.

Plague Cat felt horror fill up his chest. Before he knew what he was doing, he launched in front of Timeweaver's outstretched hand. He tried to twist in order to hit her with his weapon, but no luck. Timeweaver's hand touched his arm. The last thing he saw was the Black Lady's porcelain face fill with confusion and horror.

Timeweaver giggled, and used the distraction to untangle her foot. The distraction didn't last much longer, and Timeweaver was hit on the side with the yo-yo as she tried to reach for Plague Cat's ring before it faded from existence.

"I'm going to kill you for that," the Black Lady snarled.

Timeweaver shrugged. "I dunno, he had a whole lotta life in him. Seems like it's time for me to split!"

And with that, the skater turned around and fled, with the supervillain right on her heels. As a yellow light began forming from Timeweaver's skates, the Black Lady flung her yo-yo once more around her body. Timeweaver tried to shake her off, but was unsuccessful, and in a second more, they had entered a flash of light and were gone.

* * *

Back in the past, Alix and Kim were still racing, and almost to the finish line. Adrien and Chloe were arguing about the watch she just stole from him. Across the Trocadéro, a small, yet blinding flash of light was emitted, and two figures popped out of it. The Black Lady was immediately ready. She unlooped her disastrous weapon, and immediately sprinted towards where the children were gathered. Timeweaver skidded around, and was after her, but with one latch of her rope onto a monument, the Black Lady swung the last few meters so that she landed right by Chloe. The children surrounding her balked in horror. Alix and Kim immediately came to a halt. The Black Lady snatched the watch away from the only kid who wasn't looking at her with absolute fright.

"Give me that," she growled. "All of you, move out! I don't want to see your faces in five seconds."

With that, all the children ran away, Chloe waving to her before doing so. The only one left standing was Alix, staring fiercely at the Black Lady who gripped a possession of hers in one hand. Timeweaver came skating up beside her past self. "That isn't yours!"

With a start, Alix recognized her own voice. In two seconds, she had made a decision and was glaring the same daggers at the Black Lady. "If the me from the future is fighting you, then I'll fight too! Give me back my watch!" And with that, Butterfly had another fighter, though he was indeed shocked by the appearance of the first one.

"Not a chance, little girl," the Black Lady snarled, and then she leapt up to the building where the other her was standing, looking mildly curious.

"Well, I guess we _can_ be in two places at once now." The Black Lady from this timeline grinned over at the original. She laughed. And then, suddenly a thought occurred to her. She could see it hit her duplicate's face just a moment later.

"It might be a good idea… to help her out. Get her on our side." The original canted her head towards the other her.

"Go to the bakery while you fight two akumas?" The other mused on it for a second. They both knew that this could cost them a significant advantage. But, she relented. "Alright. I'll be back as soon as possible."

The watch now tucked in an unseen pocket of her costume, the Black Lady swung back down to where the two Timeweavers were grinning and already transformed.

The first one skated forward a foot, and said defiantly, "I thought we were going to have to chase you down, but it seems you decided to come down from your high horse."

The other came to stand next to her twin, and continued maliciously, "We aren't sucking anyone else's energy except yours. And we'll take those earrings while we're at it, if you don't mind."

The Black Lady gave them an annoyed look. "You know what, on second thought? Bye!"

Spinning on her heel, she ran in the opposite direction, half swinging and half letting her feet pound along the pavement. She didn't want to lose them, but she did want to stay alive until Plague Cat showed up again. She looked back at the two of them, and saw them running their hands along tree trunks and patches of grass to gain speed. She ran faster, away from the open area that was more helpful to them, and eventually swung over to another street once she led them down one path. She was now out of sight of the Timeweavers, but definitely not out of reach.

"Hello, M'Lady. Though, I don't think you're mine," a cool voice popped up at her right, and the Black Lady swung around and grinned.

"Cat!" The Black Lady flung her arms around Plague Cat's body, then quickly withdrew.

Though his face was covered, she knew his expression was confused. "What was that?"

The Black Lady shook her head and resumed her flat tone. "Uh, nothing. You're right, I'm not from this timeline. You died in the last one."

"Oh. Let's not have it happen again, shall we?"

The Black Lady grinned, feeling more like herself. "We'll try."

"Where's the other you headed? I caught a glance of her go the opposite direction."

The Black Lady shrugged. "Oh, nowhere. She should be back soon, just needed to accomplish something important before she joined the fight."

"You're running, not fighting."

"I was a bit out of options, Kitty. Two to one is never fair- that's supposed to be our game!" She pouted the last sentiment as two voices in syncronization came from behind the pair of supervillains.

"Seemed you decided to try to even up the fight anyways."

Plague Cat and the Black Lady spun around to see the two Timeweavers.

"Ooh, I do like these odds. Three against two. Not as good as four, but it'll have to do," a voice suddenly crooned from above, and the second Black Lady jumped down to stand between her duplicate and Plague Cat. Almost unnoticeably, she was gripping something in her hand, which the other Black Lady noticed to be a small pocket knife. She had summoned her Lucky Charm on the way over.

The could both hear Plague Cat's smile. "Duplicates seem all the rage nowadays, don't they? I'll be honest, I didn't see it with Luck Cat, but I could get used to having you two around."

The Timeweavers growled. "Just means more of you are gonna disappear today!"

Two out of three of the villains got on the defensive. The Black Lady threw her yo-yo in the air. " _Lucky Charm_!"

It was a bo staff. Quickly, she tossed it to the other her, who without a word passing between them, gave the knife and her own yo-yo in exchange. "Help Plague Cat keep them in line, and don't let them touch you with the palms of their hands! I'm going to disappear for a moment, but I'll be back with the element of surprise!"

She threw her hands in the air and swung off. One of the Timeweavers tried to snag at her foot, but missed. The second Black Lady clonked her on the head with the bo staff. Both Timeweavers narrowed their eyes, and then turned and skated in the other direction.

Plague Cat quickly slung his hand around the Black Lady's waist, and used his own staff to launch after them. On another street, next to the Trocadéro again, they were able to cut the Timeweavers off, the Black Lady jumping down on one side, and Plague Cat on the other.

They boxed them closer and closer together, though making sure to keep away from the touch of either of the Timeweavers. Any time one of the Timeweavers got close, they got hit on the side with either staff. And soon, in the confined space between the two supervillains, their speed did them no good. Back to back, they moved in a circle, when suddenly, a rope bound them together from above, and two feet came knocking into them as the Black Lady swung by. They were on their backs now, and the Black Lady quickly cut into the fabric of their skates, releasing two butterflies.

Plague Cat knocked both of the heroes over the head with his staff, and the other Black Lady unwound her lost yo-yo, still careful to avoid the Timeweavers' hands. Both Black Ladies nodded to each other, and then flung out their weapons.

"Bye, little butterfly." The Black Lady from the other timeline gave a little wave.

"That could have gone a little smoother," her copy said, which got her a glare.

Then the Black Lady groaned to herself, twirling her yo-yo by her side, and watching as the butterfly she disarmed flew off into the distance, from the wreckage of Timeweaver's skates. "Ugh, the timeline's incorrect now."

Plague Cat glanced back at the both of them. "So?"

"So I have to delete myself. I'm the wrong one. Here, take the watch." She reached into the pocket at her side, and tossed the silver circle to her counterpart, who caught it with grace but confusion.

"What, why- oh. This is… familiar." The other Black Lady stared down and turned the piece over and over in her hands.

"I know. Keep it safe!" And with that, the original Black Lady flung her yo-yo into the air, shouted " _Disastrous Ladybug!_ ", and with a quietly soft feeling of being filled with emptiness, disappeared into the sky. One of the Timeweavers disappeared as well, and the leftover Alix sat up, rubbed her head, and looked around.

"Where's my watch?" She asked quietly.

From across the way, a girl with black rimmed glasses and auburn hair approached. She had been watching the last fight and filming on her phone from behind a short wall at the edge of the Trocadéro. Alya put her hand on the other's shoulder. "Sorry Alix."

The redhead looked to the side, and her expression became even more heart breaking. Lying there was one of her roller skates, shattered on the ground. "My skates…"

* * *

Plague Cat went straight home, and arrived just in time to pick up a call from Nino.

"Oh, yeah, I got turned around, and then I heard that Alix was deakumatized and the other one disappeared… so I just came home."

Nino sighed. "I feel sorry for her. I… I know what it's like. You're trying to do the right thing, but it's sparked from anger, and all you are is twisted. And then, afterwards, you just feel really, really depleted."

Adrien sighed too. "I bet a lot of us don't make it easy."

"Chloe's not your problem, my man," Nino gave a flat chuckle. "If I had given puppies to everyone in Paris, she'd still find a reason to hate me."

The conversation stretched longer, and Adrien sat with his feet kicking against the wall, and his back leaning up against the bed. Subconsciously, he rubbed his sides, remembering the Black Lady's hug, as if her arms were still wrapped around him. Part of him shivered, but part of him wondered. Why did she do that? All he knew was that it wasn't normal.

Marinette detransformed at home, immediately knowing that some extra time had passed before she got there. The last memory she had was of standing on the pavement, watching the other Black Lady disappear in red sparkles, and clutching Alix's watch in her hands. She still had the feeling that that watch was important, but she wasn't holding it in her grasp anymore. Tikki was floating in front of her, and she lifted her eyes to stare at the kwami.

Tikki gave a little shrug before spinning away. "Finders, keepers. Hope Ms. Chamack enjoys her cake."

Marinette furrowed her eyebrows. She was pretty sure she liked the idea of Tikki trying to help her out less than she liked the torment the little bug had been putting her through previously. And, though she had questioned the kwami earlier, there were even more questions swirling through her brain now.

As the other Black Lady had disappeared, little bits of memories had flooded her brain. Marinette was sure the Black Lady had done this on purpose, not wanting the other version of herself to lack any bit of information. The outcome, however, left vivid impressions of the memories stamped onto Marinette's brain. It seemed that because the memories belonged to neither of them, the Black Lady couldn't remove them from Marinette's mind. So, now, all she could think about was Plague Cat leaping in front of her, and sacrificing himself for the Black Lady. Why did he? Why had a part of her soul pulled so hard against the Black Lady's cold outer layer to hug Plague Cat? What was that watch, and where did the Black Lady hide it? And, more importantly, what was Tikki trying to accomplish with her niceties?

* * *

 **A/N: Ok, I'm really sorry that it took a while (a nickel for every time I say I'm going to post and then don't for two months, am I right?). I just got so sidetracked, and once I was away for the story for too long, it was hard to get back on track with working on it. I really hope this time I can stick with it, I do really like writing the story. To make up for my long absence and history of not following through: I'm immediately working on the next chapter of this and hoping to post it in a few more days. Whoop! Let's see how I mess this up, heh.**

 **Anyways! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Marinette's getting more used to the whole thing- we'll get a better focus on her soon, and Adrien too (who I've kinda been leaving out of the mix, whoops), but right now I'm fleshing PC &BL out (trying to make sure I keep more of a moving pace than the show does, even tho I'm following it for right now, heh). Thanks for the lovely reviews, review again if you wish, and I'll see you all soon (unless I get attacked by wolves, or worse, procrastination)!**


	6. Miss Wifi

"Hello fellow Parisians, and welcome to week one of our dictatorship. I'm here to give you some solid information that I learned from being up close and personal with some of the akumatized heroes. Yes, I know a lot of people are confused, but that _is_ what these colorful, supersuited individuals are here to do. Be heroes and save Paris from the Black Lady and Plague Cat." Alya was sitting on the edge of her bed in her room, the lights dimmed and the window shut. She had a mask on that covered the top part of her face, but the setup was crude, and pictures of her and her friends could be vaguely seen in the background. Her voice was also undisguised. She had looked into software that would change her voice- it was rather more difficult to setup than she had hoped. So, she took a fox mask from a costume store and hoped it sufficed to protect her identity. She had many of these videos on her blog. This was just one of the first ones she had posted.

The blog itself had a double identity too. To most people, it appeared as a sweet little site where a girl posted videos of her friends doing fun activities- despite the horror going on in Paris. But, if one clicked a few certain links, they would get to the true purpose, hidden behind layers of the fruity cover-blog Alya had made. Here, there would be videos speaking out against what was going on in the beloved capital of France. And though it may be easy enough to trace the coverage back to Alya, her message did seem to be spreading.

The video continued, Alya subconsciously adopting a conspiratorial tone to her voice as she leaned closer to her camera. "But, don't let me tell you about it. I have an interview right here with one of the akumatized."

The image fuzzed out, and was replaced with a picture of Nino, looking sideways into the camera, with a slightly worried expression across his face. "Al-"

The person behind the camera shushed him. "C'mon Nino, people need to know more about the akumatized. Part of the problem is that no one knows whose side is the good side."

The young teen sighed, lowered his gaze, and then stared off into the distance as he spoke. "Ok, fine. Well, I guess being akumatized is really… foggy. It only happens if you're willing to fight, and if you… well, what happens is Butterfly will contact you, and in that moment, you get to decide whether or not you want to stand up to the Black Lady and Plague Cat. And once you do, you also know how horrible they are."

Nino paused, and faced the camera. He sounded harried, almost like he was begging the viewers to believe him. "I don't remember much, not even the sound of Butterfly's voice, but I do remember a kind of _ancient_ horror at the Black Lady and Plague Cat. And after I was deakumatized, that was all that was left. I can't imagine facing them again. It seems absolutely impossible."

That was one of Alya's older videos. There was an updated version with more interviews from different akumatized that corroborated what Nino had stated. Becoming a virtuized hero was so far not a virtue-invoking process at all. The easiest way to get someone to rise up was anger. But whatever emotion triggered the akuma stayed in the hero's soul throughout the process. Thus, all heroes so far had been almost as dangerous as the supervillains.

Alya warned about this on her blog, brought it to the attention of other Parisians. Try not to be angry, try to be vigilant.

She spoke out on various different topics, besides covering as many fights as possible that the Black Lady and Plague Cat got into. She discussed the unlawful state of the new city laws, and what people around France, and even the world, should be doing to try to negate them. It was hard because there wasn't strong evidence that the Black Lady and Plague Cat were doing anything wrong- their demeanor and things they had said off-handedly weren't much to pin down. The dictators remained a mystery to most of Paris. They came and went.

Alya had loads of theories. In her most recent video, she went over quite a few of them. She was sitting on her bed again, mask slightly askew on her face, and her voice hurried and excited to have news to share.

"So, I know a lot of people are curious about what happened with the Pharaoh. Just like Luck Cat and Mr. Pigeon, not a lot of people were there to see the fight go down. But I was there. And I know exactly how it went down."

Alya was, of course, seeing through the rose-tinted lenses of her own rebellious nature, and thus did not share details that might have been pertinent to her audience. She meant well, and was probably just too excited to get to the theories she now had on the identities of the Black Lady and Plague Cat.

Alya had finally convinced Marinette out of her house to a place other than school. They went to the museum and a newly opened exhibit. Their purpose for going was a little more than to look at ancient Egyptian artifacts. Alix's older brother worked there, and they wanted to know from him if she was alright.

Alya was also extra distracted because she was going over her favorite theories surrounding the secret identities of the Black Lady and Plague Cat. Vaguely, she recognized that this subject was making Marinette uncomfortable, but she wrote it off as her friend still not being fully out of the dumps yet. And what was better than exposure to the topic to make Marinette feel used to what was going on in Paris?

Alya knew that some sort of magic surrounded the Black Lady and Plague Cat, making suspicion slide off of them, making features she would have recognized otherwise appear almost blurry and vague, and making their voices sound oddly foreign. She did, however, calculate the height of the two villains, and surprisingly, she found that they were exceedingly short. About the height of people in her own grade level, to be completely honest.

And thus, Alya had gotten the idea that the supervillains ruling over Paris were two kids going to their very own school.

But, when her and Marinette bumped into Jalil, Alya got an even better idea. Alix's older brother had been working at the exhibit, painstakingly examining every aspect of the ancient egyptian artifacts. And while Marinette was absently looking at scrolls hanging on the walls, Jalil told Alya that he found something interesting. Having followed her blog primarily because of his sister, Jalil knew Alya was in the business of standing up against the supervillains taking over Paris. And he had found something related to another rebellious soul, fighting against the Black Lady and Plague Cat, in _ancient Egypt_.

He showed her a scroll crowded with hieroglyphics, and right in the center was a picture of the pharaoh facing off against a woman covered in polka dots and a man with a cat mask. He also brought attention to an amulet that seemed to match descriptions of an artifact that bestowed the ancient pharaoh with the powers to fight the Black Lady and Plague Cat. Alya's face lit up in excitement, and she made a decision. A decision that could be deemed as rash, a decision she did not mention in the video she posted on her blog.

She convinced Jalil to become an akumatized hero.

Her reasoning was that Jalil was a calm, well-meaning young man. He was certain of the existence of this ancient foe, and he knew a lot about the pharaoh. If he could be akumatized when he was not full of rage, maybe he would be more successful than previous heroes. Even if he failed, maybe Paris could believe in the good of the akumatized, and more would be willing to fight. Jalil thought it over. Then he agreed. Butterfly awoke, and things instantly went awry.

Alya scampered away to tell Marinette of her discoveries, and her friend immediately froze. Alya insisted everything would be fine. Instead, as a butterfly flew into the amulet around Jalil's neck, something strange happened. An ancient Egyptian pharaoh reawoke and began to cause havoc and seek vengeance by turning anyone he could get his hands on into a mummy. Jalil was nonexistent. The Black Lady and Plague Cat eventually arrived and stopped the Pharaoh, breaking the powerful amulet in the process, and returning all Parisians to their ordinary forms.

Alya skimmed over most of this in her video, showed the broken amulet she had snagged from the scene of the fight, and illustrated how they had lost a valuable ally, and how she was still wary to fight as an akumatized hero since Jalil had been overwhelmed with rage just like everyone before.

* * *

Marinette watched Alya's blog when she was absolutely sure Tikki wasn't around, which made it rare she got an opportunity. It was also hard to have a discussion about Alya's behavior for the same reason. It had been harrowing for her when Alya was discussing her theories on who the Black Lady was- it had to be someone, didn't it? Marinette thought that discovering the ancient hieroglyph of the Black Lady might turn Alya in a different direction. Not even to protect Marinette's identity- she was still struggling with whether she _wanted_ to protect it or not- but to keep Alya further out of trouble than she already was. Tikki was an intelligent, tricky little sprite. She would find out how problematic Alya was soon, and Marinette worried profusely what this might mean for her friend.

Unfortunately, discovering the hieroglyphics did not turn Alya off the trail. It perhaps put her closer to figuring out who the Black Lady was. It also reminded Marinette of all the questions circling in her head, and she had to admit, the points Alya brought up were intriguing, though terrifying.

"I'm just saying, they can't be that old, right? I mean, maybe they are, that would explain the height difference, to be honest. People were far shorter back then. I think. But why are they here now? Why do they come and go and disappear? I think they're inhabiting someone. I don't think it matters who, they might not even look like their host. But I think they must be possessing someone."

Alya was pacing back and forth in her bedroom, and Marinette was watching her, a worried frown curling her forehead downwards.

"I dunno, Alya. It seems pretty… complicated. Should you really be looking into this? Shouldn't you leave it to the authorities?"

Alya's frustration deepened. "Girl, you know the authorities have done nothing for us! We have to prod the authorities into action. I think Chloe might be the key."

Marinette turned her head to the side in startlement. "Chloe? Alya, we've seen Chloe and the Black Lady in the same place."

Alya rolled her eyes playfully. "I'm not saying she is the Black Lady. She's her own kind of supervillain. I'm saying she must know something about the supervillains, given her father is the mayor, and she's their number one fan. I just need to look into her a bit more."

It was absurd. Nonetheless, Marinette's heart quickened. "You can't be serious… Honestly, Alya, why can't you just give it a rest for a bit? You're going to get in a huge amount of trouble."

Alya turned on her friend with a slightly vicious frown. "Marinette, I know you don't like talking about this, but it's reality now. You need to get used to it, or work to change it. And I plan to change it."

Marinette blinked as she did a double take, but a soft smile from Alya, a sincere apology about the tone of her voice, and a change in the subject of the conversation made it so she couldn't dwell on her friend's words for long.

* * *

Marinette thought that going over to Alya's to talk about her friend's crazy theories would be enough to lose Tikki. She didn't know how wrong she was until the next day, when the kwami popped up while the raven-haired girl was doing her homework, and forced her to turn into the Black Lady. If Marinette had time to think, she would have found it unsettlingly that one day before school, without any reported akuma attacks, Tikki wanted to frolic around as a supervillain for the afternoon.

Of course, she had no time to think, and soon the Black Lady was running across the roofs of Paris, as stealthily as possible. When she got to a secluded rooftop, she removed her yoyo from her waist and called Plague Cat. Clearly, he wouldn't be around, but his disastrous would ping and Plagg would know what to do. The Black Lady settled back and waited for her partner to show. It only took ten minutes.

"M'Lady? There's no threat, as far as I know."

The Black Lady turned her head to Plague Cat, standing above her with his chin resting on the top of his staff, where his hands were folded.

The Black Lady stood up and faced him. "Exactly. We haven't had any time to interact without an akuma attack looming over our heads, and there's things we need to discuss, catch up on."

A playful lilt entered his voice. "What'd you have in mind, M'Lady?"

She glared harshly at him. "Cat, this is serious, and I want to talk to you straight. No guessing, no assuming, we need to be on the same page. Remove your mask."

Plague Cat's jovial mood evaporated immediately, and he shrunk his staff while he stepped down from the ledge. " _Cull_." His voice was rough as he removed his mask. Then he sat across from where the Black Lady was positioned, watching her with mild, careless attention.

She glanced out over the city, ignoring his obvious annoyance. "Cat, we need to plan."

"Plan?"

"Yes! We've never been in this situation before. We've never had to fight so much with our hosts _and_ with an enemy. Normally it takes time for rebellions to rise up, and by then we're ready."

"Well, there was an-"

The Black Lady whirled back towards him with an antagonizing glare. "We both know that was your fault."

Her partner crossed his arms tighter and glowered back at her, but didn't say a word.

"Anyways. We haven't actually taken a break to figure out our game plan, to categorize what we know and what we need to look for."

"Alright."

The Black Lady sat down, placed her yoyo on the ground, and pressed a button. A holographic screen popped up above her device. She started to scrawl notes on it as she talked out loud. "Paris, this time period, it's very powerful. We've already encountered two powerful objects-"

"Two?"

" _Yes_ , two. The watch Timeweaver had, that was something from our past. Something is clouding it, I took it to Fu and he couldn't figure it out either. But it's important."

"And finally we got rid of Tut's amulet. I always wondered where he hid that."

"Yes. But all we're doing is starving off threats as they come. We need to get ahead of things. We have no idea where Butterfly is, _who_ they are… They're very good at hiding their presence." The Black Lady paused her scrawling and bit at the tip of her thumb in concentration.

Cat frowned. "But that's a long term thing, we can't figure that out now."

"Yeah, I know. We have to keep it in mind though- and we have to meet up more often, plan things out." Then she brightened and her grin lengthened out deviously. "But, there is a threat that we can get out of our way first. A school girl who has been very vocal for a while, but who hasn't been akumatized. Her name is Alya."

Plague Cat cocked his head at her. "We agreed no murder, that'd just complicate things as of now, especially with a kid."

The Black Lady rolled her eyes. "Not murder, Kitty. It's a little abnormal, but I'm pretty sure she's trying to become akumatized when she learns more about the process, when she can control herself. When she isn't volatile."

He thought for a moment. "You want to akumatize her."

"Yes. And I know how to do it- she's very invested in justice. I have… inside knowledge that the girl's next lead is Chloe."

"Chloe?"

"Yes. That brat of a mayor's daughter would be perfect, don't you think, Kitty?"

"I kind of like her."

The Black Lady pouted at the change in topic. "More than me?"

Plague Cat gave her a sly grin.

"Anyways, I was going to head over to Mr. Mayor's office, wait for the perfect time, get a law made and all that. And maybe we get Alya to lead us to Butterfly, if the opportunity arises."

"See if she can give us any information on them… What do you need me for again?"

"Entertainment." With that, she closed her yoyo with a click and stood up again. Plague Cat followed suit.

Before the Black Lady leapt off the roof, she turned around. "Also! Try to get on your host's good side. We're probably going to be fighting weekly threats for a while, if we can learn more about the civilians, what drives them, we can make it easier."

Plague Cat nodded slightly to this, and then she left. He sighed, touched his cheek, and then pounced away as well.

* * *

If Alya couldn't employ the assistance of her best friend, her kindred spirit was probably just as good. The next day, at school, she set her plan in motion.

"Nino!"

The bespectacled DJ turned to her and the corners of his mouth lifted in the ghost of a grin. "Alya. Hi."

Ever since Adrien's birthday and the subsequent birth and death of the Bubbler, Alya's empathetic instincts- and, to be honest, her curiosity for a good story too- had drawn her to Nino. She had been one of the people constantly looking out for him, besides his fast friend Adrien, of course. And as he slowly healed from his melancholic state, her presence had been a good source of happiness for him to rely on.

"I… I would like to request your help," Alya blushed a little at her admission, but her eyes still betrayed her passion and focus. She was excited.

Nino was intrigued and another ghosty smile crossed his features. "What's up?"

Alya pursed her lips. Then she very quickly dragged him into a deserted corner of the school. Nino blinked a bit, and his face flushed, but he waited for her to explain herself.

"It's about our dictators."

Nino sighed. "Of course."

Alya was fidgeting with her phone. "I think I have an idea to get more information on them… Marinette's still against the idea, but I feel like I _need_ to do what I can to change this city for the better. So I was wondering if you could do just one teensy favor for me?"

Nino sighed again. He admired Alya's drive, but he hated involving himself in what her drive was focused on. "What favor?"

All Nino had to do was go up to Chloe and keep her in conversation for long enough to let Alya quickly peruse Chloe's locker and slip a small listening device- crafted by Max when he heard Alya was looking for spy gadgets- into her bag.

Nino approached the queen bee of their school with awkward tension. He mainly kept his focus on his shoes. Alya was sneaking around the back.

Chloe noticed him and groaned. "Ugh, what do _you_ want?"

His eyes still focused on the ground below his feet, Nino suddenly grasped at an idea. "Um… I just wanted to say that… your shoes are really pretty, Chloe. So… yeah."

"Well, duh, everything about me is pretty! You took long enough to point it out, _Four Eyes_."

"Yeah… uh, well, I was also wondering-"

"Ugh, I don't have the patience to talk to you. You're still a villain to me, you know that? I have to go."

And before Nino could reach out and stop her, or bring up another topic on conversation, Chloe had rounded to see Alya peering in her locker and just about to set the small device into Chloe's bag. Her eyes went wide. Chloe's face turned furious.

"What. Are you doing?!" The blonde quickly snatched at Alya's phone, and as Alya pulled her left hand away, Chloe dove to grab the tiny object in her other hand. "What is this? I'm calling my father! Sabrina! Get the principal!"

Moments later, Alya, Sabrina and Chloe were standing in Mr. Damocles' office, Chloe's phone held out in front of her, as she examined her nails on her other hand in disinterest. Clearly though, she was getting everything she could ever hoped for from this conversation.

On the screen of Chloe's phone, the mayor was speaking calmly to Alya and the principal behind her. "Actually, we just put a new law on the books, the Black Lady was in here earlier-"

"What? Where is she?"

The mayor gave her a look of disapproval that, unknowing to him, mirrored the exact same look Chloe was giving her. "This was yesterday. Anyways, you're a minor, but it's clear from what my daughter has told me you have been trying to resist the new laws."

"You can't prove that."

The mayor raised his eyebrow. Then he spoke to his daughter. "Chloe, would you mind passing your phone to Mr. Damocles?"

With a wink at Alya, Chloe handed her phone to the principal.

Alya could not see the mayor's face, but her own face turned ashy with horror as she listened to their conversation. "I believe Miss Césaire has been rebelling against the new laws of this city. Whether or not I am correct, as an adult I am appalled by her manners, and as a parent I am appalled that she was trying to spy on my daughter! Therefore, I hope you will take my suggestion, as _mayor of Paris_ , to suspend Alya Césaire for the week, at least."

Mr. Damocles glanced up at his student. Alya was prepared to beg, but she didn't have time. The principal spoke softly, with little conviction. "Alya, you will be suspended from school for the rest of the week. And when you come back, you will have a full week of detention."

Before more could be said, Alya ran out of the room. She passed Nino in the hallway, tears beginning to well in her eyes. He reached out his hand towards her, but she ignored his worried face and continued running until she was out of the school, secure in a small nook where she could be alone with her thoughts. Her angry, frustrated feelings.

It wasn't long before, on the edge of her vision, she caught sight of a single, pale lilac butterfly approaching her. She didn't move, she just watched it in curiosity, cheeks still tear-stained. And then it landed on her phone. And dissolved. And Alya realized with a start what she had just allowed to happen.

Suddenly a purple light flitted around the sides of her face and she heard the smooth, calm voice of an older man echoing through her head… he sounded familiar.

 _"Hello. My name is Butterfly. But I know you know me. I have a simple request of you- fight to take back your city with the powers I give you. Capture the disastrouses of the Black Lady and Plague Cat. Bring them to me. Then your city will be safe again, and these unfair rules that enchain you will go away. Isn't that what you want?"_

She could feel her negative emotions engulfing her in a sea of frustration unlike anything she'd ever felt before. Desperately, she tried to scramble her way to the surface, but her determination barely made a dent in the waves of power radiating from the akuma. She had to stay positive, she had to stay positive, she _had to_. Or else, what was she fighting for? This was her chance, and if she screwed it up…

A wedge fixed it's way into her heart and made all other thoughts disappear into foggy fragments. _There was no other option. She wanted to be the hero. She_ had _to be the hero._

Alya scrunched up her face. "Fine! If it has to be now…. I can't stand this despair any longer. We need to rally the people of Paris, we need to drive the Black Lady and Plague Cat away. Butterfly, virtuize me!"

 _"That's the spirit. Welcome to the network, Miss Wifi."_

* * *

Marinette was sitting at her seat, absently staring out the window, when a hand suddenly tapped her on the shoulder. "Hmm? Nino! What is it?"

Her friend had a dark expression. Marinette was instantly worried.

"You know that Alya isn't here?"

Marinette glanced at the seat to her right. "Yes, but class hasn't started yet. What's wrong?"

"Marinette, she's been suspended. For messing with Chloe's locker."

Marinette jumped her feet. "No." Then she ran out of the room, ignoring Miss Bustier's frustrated cries and Adrien's curious look as she passed him.

She made her way to Mr. Damocles' office. And found an even more distressing sight than she anticipated. The principal was frozen, a pink pause sign floating in front of his chest. She felt a presence at her shoulder, and quickly turned. It was Adrien.

"Marinette, are you o-" he suddenly saw the principal and froze.

Then a notification popped up on his phone. He tapped Marinette on the shoulder and had her look.

"Alya's blog?"

Adrien shrugged. "I follow her updates. For the videos of our friends and… for the information on the state of Paris. She's pretty passionate, isn't she?"

Marinette nodded. And then watched in horror as the video unfolded.

An akumatized Alya popped up, face filling the screen, with a slight grin. Then she stepped back. "Well, well, well. This happened sooner than I would like, but I'm finally able to bring the Parisians following my blog true news about the akumatized state of affairs! But before we get too deep into that topic, please call me Miss Wifi. And I'm here to say a few things about the state of our city too. Mr. Damocles, is it true that today you suspended a student for little to no reason."

The principal's worried face peeked out from behind Miss Wifi. "I, well, yes, I-"

Miss Wifi's face crowded the screen again. "And there you have it, citizens of Paris! Let me explain. Apparently a new law just entered the books stating that looking into either Plague Cat or the Black Lady, trying to find out where they are, who they are, _anything_ is now considered treason and will be punished accordingly. Parisians, we have no freedom left! A girl can be suspended just for looking in the daughter of the mayor's locker!"

She turned around to face the principal again. "You're also at fault in this. You can't just stand idly by. And if that's what you wish to do, well…"

The video suddenly turned on its head, and when Miss Wifi showed Mr. Damocles again, he was frozen, with that pink icon hovering over his chest.

"Now, to go fix the problem at the center of this city! I'll check back with my dear followers soon!" And with that, Miss Wifi's unsettlingly easy-going smile was the last thing Adrien and Marinette saw before the video ended.

Adrien's eyebrows were curled in worry. Before Marinette could even think to say anything though, she suddenly caught sight of a small red creature floating nearby out of the corner of her eye. If Adrien just turned to his left, he would see her.

Terrified that Tikki might not care if only Adrien saw her transform, terrified that the Black Lady might _do_ something to him, Marinette turned on her heel. "I'm sorry, I have to go!"

"Wait, Marinette-" but before Adrien could do anything to stop her, she was gone. And a kwami rustled out from inside his jacket.

"Heh, there goes your protection, pretty boy. Time to say-"

"Claws out."

* * *

Chloe only had to answer the phone for Miss Wifi to come spinning out in a burst of pixels. She smiled down at the shocked teen. "Hello!"

Chloe screeched, turned, and ran. Even though it was against her deepest nature, Miss Wifi smiled at the frightened teen. She quickly tossed a lock icon from her phone onto the door before Chloe could reach it.

"Come now, all you have to do is tell me all the secrets you've learned about the Black Lady and Plague Cat, and I won't do anything to you."

"I don't know anything, you creep!" Chloe shouted as she desperately tugged at the door.

Miss Wifi tilted her head to the side, but before anything could happen, a round object hit her in the back of the head. She turned and scowled, and there behind her crouched the Black Lady. The supervillain smirked. "You're a fan, right?"

Miss Wifi's scowl deepened. "Quite the opposite, actually."

Brandishing her phone, she sent an icon at the Black Lady, who dodged easily. "Well, I'd love to get to know you better. Why don't we go downstairs, have a glass of wine?" She quirked her eyebrow. "The dining room is the only room without those locks on the doors, after all."

Miss Wifi smirked. "You're smart. But I can tell you're just trying to distract me from Miss Bourgeois, who's clearly a huge supply of information."

The Black Lady shrugged and backed up to a window. "Not really. Do what you want with her, it'll just damage your cause more."

And with that, she flipped out the window. Miss Wifi gave a confused look back to Chloe, who whined in indignation. "I told you, I don't know _anything_!"

With that, Miss Wifi shrugged, and disappeared in a wave of pixels as she called a phone she had set up downstairs in the dining room, assuming the Black Lady would find her here. She proudly appeared on a table, and saw the Black Lady sitting down across from her, yo-yo open as a communicator. She looked up in an uninterested manor as the akumatized hero appeared.

Miss Wifi smiled. "You're clearly not smart enough. I left this room open for a reason." She transported herself to another table. "You have no way of stopping me here."

The Black Lady said nothing, just raised an eyebrow at her enemy in light contempt.

"You just going to sit there? Fine with me." Miss Wifi flung an icon at the Black Lady who, quick as lightning, raised a mirror with her other hand and deflected the lock back at Miss Wifi.

She yawned in boredom. "Did you forget about my Lucky Charm? And I thought you knew me so well."

Miss Wifi, who had dodged the attack sent back at her, scowled. "That shouldn't be able to do that!"

The Black Lady hummed noncommittally. " _Lucky_ , I guess. Who is Butterfly, by the way?"

Miss Wifi regained her smirk, but was clearly analyzing the situation. "My partner, you could say. Who you clearly don't know anything about."

"Worth a try," the Black Lady shrugged. Then, seeing a ping of light appear on her she raised her communicator to her ear. "Cat? Good. Break it now, if you would."

With that, she closed her yo-yo, and threw it at Miss Wifi who, unable to teleport to another phone, was knocked down. She tried again, but upon realizing her teleportation powers were gone, assumed a defensive stance. "What did you do?"

"You think I didn't anticipate your little rebellion? Those videos on your blog are quite easy to find. And unlike you, _I_ actually have a partner, who took down the wifi. You told me about your powers before I even met you. Thanks for that."

Just at that moment, Plague Cat slipped into the room, cold and foreboding, the metal mask obscuring his features and glowing with radioactivity.

The Black Lady smiled back at him. Miss Wifi was cautiously positioned, ready for a fight.

She got one. But it was over in seconds. Plague Cat easily tripped her as she tried to back up from an attack from the Black Lady, who then snagged her phone and snapped it in half like it was a twig. A butterfly exited, the Black Lady captured it, and tossed her mirror towards the ceiling. Alya fell to the floor, dizzy and shocked.

The Black Lady knelt in front of the young girl, who stared at her with such terror that she almost started to cry. The supervillain grinned, and touched the side of Alya's cheek. "Bye-bye, little butterfly."

Then she stood, patted Plague Cat on the arm, and exited the dining room with a confident gait. Her partner quickly followed. Alya curled up into a ball, still sitting on the floor, and began to sob into her arms.

* * *

After detransforming, Marinette ran straight to the Le Grand Paris, rushing into the dining room, and saw Alya crying on the floor. She dove to embrace her friend in a tight hug. "Oh, Alya. Alya, it's alright, it's okay."

Her best friend held onto her like she was an anchor, sobbing into Marinette's shoulder. Before long though, she tried to speak. Marinette shushed her, crying tears of her own, but through the hiccups and whimpers, Alya got her words out.

"No, no, please stop. Do-don't shush me, I need to say this. Marinette. Please, I- I- I… I did it for _you_. Can't you see that? I did it for you, and Nino, an-and everyone… and I can't be strong anymore, I… I really ca-can't, but I need you to be strong for me now. Please, for me, don't be sad… I can't stand another sad face around here… You've been so sad for so long. Please. We have to work through this together."

Marinette smiled down at her friend through her own watery facade. "Yeah, together. To change it."

* * *

 **A/N: Hahaha… Hi. Sorry for the impromptu hiatus. I swear I've been trying to get to a regular posting schedule again, but I started college mid-September and everything was much more hectic than I expected. I was able to reevaluate my writing schedule though, and I think I'll be better at updating for the rest of the school year. I was using too much of my free time to binge watch shows, and this chapter was bothering me, so it took too long to write ^^'. Also reading Lolita in four days at the beginning of this quarter sucked all my energy out. That book is so creepy.**

 **Anyways- this should be the end of Marinette's down-in-the-dumps arc. I think Alya's a really good friend, and even though they haven't really known each other long in this story, her action is totally what pushes Marinette out of her slump. She'll still be uneasy, but she'll be more active from now on. Adrien will also begin to appear more fully in the future! TBH, I wasn't quite sure what I was doing with his character for a bit. Tell me your thoughts! I love hearing them, and to be honest, it really motivates me, even though sometimes I leave you guys for eons on end.**


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